The sun has set on the 2026 FIFA World Cup and while football may not have come home, England did return with bronze, the nation’s best finish since lifting the trophy back in 1966.
The squad had the nation in a chokehold for three weeks with Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane shining on football’s biggest stage. While we can argue on tactics and what could have been, it’s been an enjoyable ride that brought pride back to the nation.
Hosted across the USA, Canada, and Mexico, the 2026 tournament sparked controversy over the commercialisation of the beautiful game with hydration breaks creating additional advertising opportunities and the half time show making the usual 15-minute break significantly longer.
Nonetheless, fans from across the globe inevitably tuned in to enjoy the spectacle, setting the stage for brands and marketers to score big with creative campaigns that cut through the noise and resonate with the wider football community.
Now that the action has come to an end, in no particular order, I’ve picked my top five favourite campaigns from the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
If you weren’t familiar with Dan Burn before the tournament kicked off, it’s likely that you are now. Boots partnered with the England defender to raise awareness around sun protection, specifically the often forgotten back of the neck. The partnership revealed that 80% of adults have experienced sun burn in this area so Boots thought outside the box and utilised England’s latest cult hero’s name, height, and personality to drum the message home.
The brand also launched a tongue in cheek video where Burn reminds fans to apply plenty of sun cream, completed with a Boots logo painted across his neck and an abundance football puns throughout.
Heaving heatwaves, Burn’s light-hearted personality and the wicked use of puns such as ‘Back of the neck’ and ‘Dan won’t Burn’ are all components that combine to strike a perfect balance between the fun side of marketing and highlighting a serious wider issue.
It’s no surprise that sportswear giants Nike make the list somewhere, known for iconic adverts that feature some of the sport’s most iconic athletes. While showcasing the latest Nike football boots, the blockbuster ‘Rip the Script’ advert urges football fans to ignore the playbook and embrace the creative, attacking side of football that made many of us fall in love with the game. Featuring Mbappe, Vini Jr., Erling Haaland and a range of other global stars, the advert sees players ditching a scripted Hollywood production in favour of playing football their own way, reinforcing the ‘Just Do It’ identity.
What really elevates the campaign is the added comical aspect. Channing Tatum appears as Haaland’s unlikely stunt double and even turned up to a Norway game with over 30 Haaland lookalikes. This casts minds back to the advert and keeps Nike front of mind at any given opportunity.
Aldi – Nationwide Search for Best Watch Party Garden
Another brand known for being on the ball with their marketing campaigns is Aldi and the brand managed to find the back of the net once again. The supermarket launched a nationwide search for Britains best watch party garden after revealing a 158% surge in UK Google searches for ‘outdoor screens and projectors’ as Brits across the country prepped to become the ultimate host in time for the start of the World Cup.
Leaning into English football heritage and giving a nod to the 1966 World Cup victory, Aldi gifted the winner £1966 in Aldi vouchers and as one of the UK’s cheapest supermarkets, the winner might just be stocked until the next tournament! Overall, the campaign was simple, timely and rooted in genuine consumer behaviour – another victory for the Aldi marketing team.
Lays – ‘The Most Epic Watch Party’
Football met Hollywood as Lays went all out to remind fans that crisps and watching football go hand-in-hand. World’s collided as football royalty such as David Beckham, Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi worked with Hollywood fan favourite Steve Carell in a feel-good celebration of matchday gatherings. Overall, the advert positioned Lays as the ultimate World Cup snack that brings fans together.
The campaign hinged on how football can connect fans and that the sport is best enjoyed when watching in numbers. Whether watching with the family, at a friend’s full blown garden watch party or even with strangers in fan zones, Lays reiterate that football leans into shared moments with those we are close with and how the simplicity of sharing a pack of crisps can elevate the experience.
Beats / Levi’s / Heinz – A Lesson in Ambush Marketing
Coincidently, all three brands were not official sponsors of the FIFA World Cup and prior to a ball being kicked, the respective marketing teams have been kicking themselves for not being on the team sheet. However, as fate would have it, all three ended being some of the most talked about brands due to perfectly executed ambush marketing tactics.
With strict sponsorship rules in place, FIFA took action to hide logos wherever possible – the Levis logo outside the Levi’s stadium, Heinz logos on ketchup bottles, and Jamal Musiala even had to put tape over the Beats logo on his headphones when arriving for games.
Ironically, these attempts to reduce visibility did quite the opposite as they fuelled the brands to respond with creative ideas and flip the script to ensure all eyes were on them. Beats teased an unreleased product, Heinz turned the taped-up bottle into a limited-edition product release, and Levi’s used the power of social media to point everyone towards the covered logo which caused a significant spike in engagement with over 2.5m likes!
This is a reminder that you don’t always need official sponsorship status to grab the headlines – you need to remain ahead of the curve and always be prepared with a plan when these situations arise.
With two years to go until the EURO Championships and another four for the next World Cup, it will be interesting to see what campaigns brands will cook up on the largest sporting platform and I’m sure behind the scenes, the next big ideas are already taking shape.
If you’re a brand looking for ways to stand out in the sports industry, drop us a message at hello@hatch.group
