The beautiful ad: alcohol promotion at the 2026 men’s World Cup

In the midst of the 2026 men’s football World Cup, the paradox of using the world’s most popular sport to normalise and promote alcohol consumption has resurfaced. Although it is understandable that an organisation like the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) would seek to maximise its profits through sponsorships from brewing giants, such as AB InBev (Leuven, Belgium), the willingness of host countries to support alcohol consumption is surprising.^1–3

 

The pervasive presence of alcohol brands on promotional products, in stadiums, on television broadcasts, and on social media makes football a highly effective marketing platform, as it systematically convenes billions of fans worldwide and helps bypass advertising controls. This explains why exposure to alcohol sports sponsorship and self-reported alcohol consumption are positively associated, with indirect exposure to alcohol sports sponsorship being associated with increased drinking in schoolchildren and harmful drinking in adult sportspeople.⁴

 

In what can be described as defiance of the evidence, the men’s World Cup has brought extensions to alcohol sales hours in Massachusetts and New York (USA), Ontario (Canada), and England and Wales (UK).^1–3,5 In South America, Ecuador’s central government temporarily reduced excise taxes on beer after the Constitutional Court overturned a permanent reduction in the tax on alcoholic beverages in 2024.⁶ 

International organisations and experts in alcohol control warn that events, such as the World Cup, present an exceptional opportunity to increase exposure to messages promoting alcohol consumption.^7,8

 

Governments constantly act as if prioritising corporate profit is inevitable for keeping the economy running, even when unregulated industries, whether food, tobacco, or in this case alcohol, have a negative effect on the health of populations. With a little help from WHO, FIFA even gets a dose of social washing with the Be Active campaign,⁹ which is broadcast alongside alcohol advertising during the hydration breaks, which seem to have been introduced for that very purpose.

 

The men’s World Cup is fleeting and will only return in 4 years, but its deceptive business model will remain, facilitating the mass marketing of alcohol. Governments must take charge of their role in setting limits on this commercial privilege, rather than acting as partners to the alcohol industry.

 

We declare no competing interests.