Marketing the 2026 Men's Soccer World Cup Starts Here & Now!

Recently, I heard a leading soccer pundit mention the need to get people excited about the 2026 Men’s Soccer World Cup. To paraphrase he said, “we need to prepare now – on and off the field…marketing the tournament to get people excited.”? This was said around the time it was announced a new coach was being hired soon to lead the team. And the United States, along with Canada and Mexico were hosting the event.

When I first heard this, I was slightly concerned.? We just finished watching (and hosting) the 2024 Copa America tournament.? People were also watching the European Championship (UEFA 2024) on TV, hosted by Germany, which overlapped that event.? And the League’s Cup was launched shortly thereafter on July 26 (through August 25), played in the United States between clubs from Major League Soccer and Liga MX (Mexico).? Wow!? That’s a lot of soccer to take-in over the course of one summer.? Had we reached the saturation point (leading into the NFL and College Football seasons, to boot)?

But you know, I believe he’s right about the need to start the marketing process now.? We are only twenty-two months away from the start of the 2026 Men’s Soccer World Cup (on June 11 through July 19).? Obviously, the hiring of a new ‘international’ coach should get United States fans excited in the short term and help jump-start the process to build fan support.? After watching the 2024 Copa America, we will be challenged to match the fan support generated by teams from Columbia and Argentina, for example.

So, what does marketing look like in the context of the 2026 Men’s Soccer World Cup?? Back in the day when I was a college student, I was introduced to a marketing framework called the ‘4-P’s’ (otherwise known as, Product – Place – Price – Promotion).? This was the formula (marketing mix) for introducing a new product or service.? It seems clear to me that the first three ‘Ps” in this framework are well established heading into the next World Cup.? Soccer’s World Cup represents the Product; the United States, Canada, and Mexico represent the Place; and Price is nonnegotiable.? That leaves Promotion as the remaining ‘P’ in the mix to manage.? But wait, what if we change the Product from Soccer’s World Cup to United States men’s soccer.? What happens to the marketing mix (dynamics)?? If the United States men’s team is competitive, that should be a positive in the eyes of the United States fan-base – and should help to build fan support.? If they are not competitive as perceived by the fans, perhaps fan support will not grow leading up the World Cup – leaving the fourth ‘P’ in limbo!? Just something to think about since the United States men’s team has limited time and opportunity to deal with changing perceptions, if needed.? Hence the need to get a new and highly qualified coach hired asap.?

If we are left with the fourth ‘P” in the mix (Promotion), that gets us to the heart of the marketing matter.? And this is where soccer’s governing body in the United States needs to start investing their time and resources to convince the public that this sport offers benefits (value) beyond pure entertainment for 4-5 weeks.? ?As I have argued for in the past, the ‘beautiful game’ offers value-added benefits that can serve the needs of the business community, for example, in today’s highly complex global world where teams and team-based applications continue to grow in the workplace.? The game offers an opportunity for people, struggling to achieve results on teams in the workplace, to see how a team effectively collaborates to achieve success.? Described as soccer’s metaphor, I like to promote it to help people learn how to build a collaborative mind-set to effectively collaborate.? It’s that simple.

The idea of leveraging a sport (and its metaphor) to generate change in how people think and act is not new.? Nelson Mandala, for example, was one who promoted sport (Rugby) to unite a nation (South Africa), replacing apartheid with democracy in South Africa.? Great Britain popularized soccer back in the 1800s to prepare people to work as a team throughout their worldwide enterprise called the British Empire. And American football – and its metaphor – have been a big part of American culture since the early 1900s to describe business and leadership – reinforcing individual values & achievement, along with command & control leadership – over team values & achievement and collaborative leadership.

Okay, so where does that leave us – or should I say soccer’s governing body?? Obviously, it leaves them with a couple of choices. One response is to stay the course (whatever that looks like…), hoping for the best in the short term.? The other is to start the process to market the game as a value-added benefit (with longer term implications) in support of the business community and its workforce who are at risk if we can’t find ways to effectively collaborate.? After all, globalization cannot survive without collaboration!

?

Winsor Jenkins (www.winsorjenkins.com) is the author of the books, The Collaborator: Discover Soccer as a Metaphor for Global Business Leadership and Game of Teams:? Discover How to Become a Collaborative Leader.? His books are available on AMAZON.