Opinion
By Yiannos Stavrinides
The curtain has fallen on a glittering tournament that crowned Spain as the new summit of world football. Spain may have lifted the coveted trophy, but the true winner is FIFA, and more specifically, its president, Gianni Infantino.
By every measure, the 2026 World Cup was the most successful football tournament in the sport’s history. Expanding the field from 32 to 48 teams increased the number of matches by 62.5 percent compared with the 2022 World Cup. As everyone knows, more matches mean more live broadcast hours, more tickets sold, and more opportunities for sponsorship deals.
According to preliminary figures released publicly, FIFA generated $9 billion in revenue from the 2026 World Cup, making it the most profitable tournament in football history. It is also worth noting that FIFA’s 2022-2026 commercial cycle, which includes broadcasting rights, sponsorship agreements, and licensing deals, generated $13 billion in revenue. That represents a 56 percent increase over the previous cycle and marks the most successful commercial period in the organization's history.
Hosting the tournament across the United States, Canada, and Mexico attracted a larger audience of affluent fans, allowing organizers to charge premium ticket prices and command higher sponsorship fees. Revenue also received a significant boost from the exceptionally lucrative U.S. broadcasting rights agreement.
Gianni Infantino played a strategically important role in the tournament's commercial success. The FIFA president pursued an aggressive business strategy by introducing new sponsorship packages and expanding the number of advertisers. At the same time, FIFA adopted an innovative broadcasting approach that reached new platforms and different audiences. When Infantino was elected in 2016, he promised to quadruple FIFA's revenues. Ten years later, based on what unfolded this summer, that objective appears well within reach.
There was criticism, however. The cities that hosted the matches carried the costs while FIFA kept the profits. Ticket prices climbed to record levels after FIFA adopted an airline-style dynamic pricing system that increases prices as demand grows. Players also faced a heavier workload because the tournament lasted six weeks instead of four and featured more matches. That affected recovery time and contributed to a large number of injuries. The growing marginalization of national football associations, together with the concentration of authority within FIFA, became another source of friction and cast a shadow over the organization's governance.
The success of the 2026 World Cup was extraordinary. It is no exaggeration to say that discussions for the 2030 tournament have already gone beyond making the recent changes permanent. FIFA is also considering expanding the competition to 64 teams, allowing one-third of the world's countries to take part.
The year 2030 marks the centennial of the World Cup. Expanding the tournament would be a bold step toward greater inclusion. Simply put, FIFA wants to turn the World Cup into football's version of the Olympic Games.
For the 2027-2030 cycle, FIFA will invest $2.7 billion in the global development of football. That figure represents a 20 percent increase, with the funding directed toward football infrastructure. Reinvesting its profits remains the only real guarantee that the global game will continue to grow.
