Weekend Consumer Blast: World Cup - Battle of the Brands

Research evidence excerpt

Weekend Consumer Blast: World Cup - Battle of the Brands

17 July 2026

Aneesha Sherman +1 917 344 8457 aneesha.sherman@bernsteinsg.com

Alexia Howard +1 917 344 8453 alexia.howard@bernsteinsg.com

Callum Elliott, CFA, ACA +44 20 7676 7183 callum.elliott@bernsteinsg.com

Danilo Gargiulo +1 917 344 8475 danilo.gargiulo@bernsteinsg.com

Euan McLeish +81 3 5962 9611 euan.mcleish@bernsteinsg.com

Ian Moore +1 917 344 8434 ian.moore@bernsteinsg.com

Jignanshu Gor +91 226 842 1494 jignanshu.gor@bernsteinsg.com

Luca Solca +41 582 723 126 luca.solca@bernsteinsg.com

Nadine Sarwat, CFA +44 20 7676 6849 nadine.sarwat@bernsteinsg.com

Richard J. Clarke, FCA +44 20 7676 6850 richard.clarke@bernsteinsg.com

Trevor Stirling +44 20 7676 7521 trevor.stirling@bernsteinsg.com

William Woods +44 20 7676 6806 william.woods@bernsteinsg.com

Yugo Shima +81 3 6777 6994 yugo.shima@bernsteinsg.com

Zhihan Ma, CFA +1 917 344 8303 zhihan.ma@bernsteinsg.com

By Aneesha Sherman, Jessica Tian, and Jed Hodulik Beyond the team sponsorships, several Nike and Adidas sponsored

athletes have been at the center of media attention both on field

and off the pitch in marketing and social media, which has boosted

2026 WORLD CUP: THE BRAND PERSPECTIVE visibility for both brands through this tournament: Norway’s Erling

Haaland (Nike), France’s Kylian Mbappe (Nike), Portugal’s

The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicked off on June 11, with a match Cristiano Ronaldo (Nike), Brazil’s Vinícius Jr (Nike), Spain’s

between host nation Mexico and South Africa, and has already Lamine Yamal (Adidas), England’s Jude Bellingham (Adidas),

delivered one of the most entertaining tournaments in recent Egypt’s Mohamed Salah (Adidas), and of course Argentina’s

memory, combining superstar performances, Cinderella runs, Lionel Messi (Adidas).