IPSOS DATA DROPS:
Boycotts in America
March 2025
Key Takeaways:
As the 2026 World Cup progressed, more Americans jumped on the bandwagon and engaged with the tournament — a promising sign for advertisers who bet big on the games.
What’s next:
The World Cup is a singular opportunity for brands to connect with soccer fans — but between the continuous play and the limited ad breaks, it’s a different landscape for attention than the Super Bowl or other American megaevents. Brands need to go beyond generic settings and by-the-numbers celebrity cameos in order to make a real impact.
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IPSOS DATA DROPS:
Boycotts in America
March 2025
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The landscape for attention in the World Cup is different from other major sporting events. In that highly competitive environment, many World Cup ads had star power, but few were truly distinctive, leading to below-average recognition and brand linkage.
The ads that crushed didn’t go near the pitch. Some of the most effective campaigns were set outside of traditional “on the field” or “in a sports bar” settings and leveraged clear product iconography.
In the weeks leading up to the first U.S.-hosted World Cup in three decades, just 26% of Americans said they were excited.
Live tournament play (and a strong showing from the U.S. team) changed that. By the end of June, nearly half (44%) of Americans said they were watching the World Cup, 38% said they were excited, and one in four (24%) said the World Cup had increased their general interest in soccer.
For advertisers, this bandwagon moment made the World Cup a rare opportunity to reach a growing and increasingly passionate audience by placing their brands at the center of a cultural moment.
The World Cup bandwagon effect: Fandom grew during tournament play
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The key to breaking through is to “think outside the pitch.” Ads that were memorable and achieved good branding tended to take place outside of traditional “on-field” or “in-bar” settings, highlight the product clearly, and leverage brand iconography early and often.
Source: Ipsos 2026 World Cup FastFacts Study Fielded July 1, 2026, N=500 U.S. Adults Age 18-65; Q: There are usually many celebrities and athletes in World Cup commercials. Which celebrities have you noticed in this year's advertisements? Please list as many as you can recall, separated by commas.
While there were many athletes featured in more than one brand’s World Cup ads (hello, Lamine Yamal!), three athletes overwhelmingly captured the mindshare of consumers watching the games. Messi, Ronaldo, and Beckham were featured in multiple ads in all three categories we evaluated — likely contributing to the "sea of sameness" that made individual brand messages blur together. So which ads did succeed?
The top three celebrities we couldn’t escape from
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Source: Ipsos World Cup Poll, fielded June 26-28, 2026 (n=1,027) and May 29-31, 2026 (n=1,023) among a nationally representative sample of all Americans using KnowledgePanel®.
Lisa Zielinski , Senior Vice President
lisa.zielinski@ipsos.com
The American audience for the World Cup may have grown, but the landscape for advertisers still differs from other major sports.
With continuous play and fewer commercial breaks compared to the Super Bowl and Olympics, FIFA World Cup ad engagement resembles that of the Winter Olympics, with only 25% of viewers highly engaged compared to the Super Bowl's 63%.
Source: Ipsos 2026 World Cup FastFacts Study Fielded July 1, 2026, N=500 U.S. Adults Age 18-65; Ipsos 2026 Super Bowl FastFacts surveys of US adults ages 18-65, N=500, conducted Feb 17-18, 2026, and N=494 conducted March 9-10, 2026
World Cup ads need to do more to capture attention from passive viewers
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Breaking through was hard to do in 2026. Ipsos post-tested 23 World Cup-related ads across three categories — finance and telecom, beverages (both non-alcoholic and alcoholic), and apparel — to understand which ads people remembered seeing. On average, ads were not overly memorable to general population category users, falling below Ipsos TV norms for Ad Recognition and Brand Linkage.
Why did this happen? Many World Cup ads leveraged the same well-known celebrities, with similar insights about soccer fans and all-too-familiar tropes like watching the games in person or at a sports bar. The result: A “sea of sameness” that made it hard to recognize a specific ad or what brand it was for.
Source: Ipsos 2026 FIFA World Cup Post-Test on 23 ads across 3 Categories (Finance/Telecom, Beverages, Apparel). Fielded July 6-8, 2026 with US Gen Pop Sample, P12M Category Users (A18-65 for Finance/Telecom and Apparel; A21-65 for Beverages) who engaged in World Cup-related activities. N=500 for each category.
The brutal truth: Most World Cup ads were forgettable
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Coca-Cola’s “No Better Feeling” was one of the best performing ads in the beverage category post-test, showing above-norm ad recognition and brand linkage.
The ad grabs attention with close-up shots of the highly expressive faces and outsized emotional reactions of soccer fans as they watch a match unfold. Then it seals the deal with iconic brand assets like the distinctive shape of its bottle, present in many scenes throughout the ad.
This combination of brand imagery and fandom positions Coca-Cola not just as the beverage of choice, but as an embodiment of what it means to celebrate the World Cup — evoking a sense of shared excitement and elevating its appeal as a fun, approachable brand that resonates with fans around the world.
Coca-Cola succeeded by putting the emotional journey ahead of the game
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Coca-Cola had an advantage before the World Cup ads: Its long-standing FIFA sponsorship helped it earn the #1 position in unaided brand awareness among World Cup advertisers in a survey fielded before the tournament began.
But “No Better Feeling” earned above-norm recognition and brand linkage among those who recognized the ad, with three in four Americans who recognized the ad agreeing that Coca-Cola “is a brand for people like me.”
Our verbatims reflect that relatability and the emotional impact made by the ad. As one person put it, “The ads had this fun, good energy with the football tie-in … Coke's was more emotional though.”
Source: Ipsos 2026 World Cup FastFacts Study Fielded July 1, 2026, N=500 U.S. Adults Age 18-65; Q: Which brands come to mind when you think of ads related to the 2026 FIFA World Cup? Please list as many as you can recall, separated by commas.Ipsos 2026 FIFA World Cup Fast Facts Post-Test on Beverages Category. Fielded July 6-7, 2026 with US Gen Pop Sample (A21-65) who engaged in World Cup-related activities. Coca-Cola Ad Recognizers n=152.
Adidas’ “Backyard Legends” ad takes soccer back to its roots as a game played on neighborhood streets with a compelling and singularly focused narrative structure. This approach strongly impacted those that recognized the ad, helping the brand score magnitudes above the category average on “fit with the World Cup” and as a partner of the tournament.
Adidas’ ad cleverly uses celebrity to augment its narrative instead of purely for the “wow factor.” Each famous athlete or celebrity plays a purpose in advancing the story, and in turn creates a feeling among viewers that Adidas is “for people like me” as they see their soccer idols — new and old — onscreen.
Adidas’ streetball story commanded fans’ attention and respect
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Adidas landed the most recognized ad in the apparel category post-test, achieving above norm ad recognition and average brand linkage.
Our verbatims show just how much their approach paid off with the people who connected with it. One person said the “Backyard Legends” ad was the best “because it didn't just sell the jersey, it told a story filled with nostalgia […] bringing together both old and new stars.”
Another person said the ad “reminded me why I actually like football to some extent.”
And as one last person put it: “Adidas made the only memorable ad, the long one. The other ones you quickly forget about or ignore.”
Source: Ipsos 2026 FIFA World Cup Fast Facts Post-Test on Apparel Category. Fielded July 6-7, 2026 with US Gen Pop Sample (A18-65) who engaged in World Cup-related activities. Adidas Ad Recognizers n=.153 Total Recognizers n =. 296
The key to breaking through the clutter is to “think outside the pitch.” Ads that were memorable and achieved good branding tended to take place outside of traditional “on field” or “in bar” settings, highlighted the product clearly, and leveraged brand iconography early and often.
Here are two examples to learn from.
Colin O’Brien, Senior Account Manager Daniel Quechol, Vice President Emily Powers, Director Kelly Cotes, Director
Sarah Maddox, Vice President Shelley Yang, Senior Director Zoe Peterson, Senior Research Analyst
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