The FIFA World Cup has long been a pinnacle moment for advertisers, and with good reason. It’s one of the few global events that brings together billions of viewers around the world. But as media consumption continues to evolve, so does how those viewers engage with content.
While broadcast and CTV will still anchor most World Cup planning, attention is no longer concentrated solely on the primary screen. Fans increasingly use their mobile devices alongside live viewing. The 2026 World Cup won’t be experienced on TV alone. Fans will follow the action on their phones too, and for brands this creates high-attention mobile moments before kickoff, at halftime, and between matches, where messaging can reinforce the broadcast as attention shifts beyond the primary screen.
This shift matters, because it changes where attention truly lives.
For decades, marketers treated live broadcast as the ultimate destination for audience attention. But the modern World Cup experience doesn’t end when the television turns off. It continues on smartphones, social platforms, and app environments where users are actively engaged.
Across major sports events, mobile use consistently spikes. Fans want real-time stats, instant updates, and second-by-second storylines that the broadcast can’t fully provide. Highlights and short clips spread rapidly through social feeds and group chats. Even casual mobile gameplay fills the downtime during matches, especially during slower moments and breaks in the action.
This isn’t distraction. It’s complementary engagement.
Second-screen behavior isn’t a temporary trend. It’s become a habit. Mobile is now the lens through which people extend and deepen their experience of live events.
Whether fans are waiting for kickoff, revisiting key plays, following fan communities, reacting to big moments, or tracking players across matches, mobile attention is persistent and contextually rich. It offers a different kind of engagement than TV: more personal, more active, and often more emotionally connected in the moment.
In this environment, brand messages have the opportunity to converge with attention rather than interrupt it.
In-app environments are some of the few places where audiences are consistently focused, frequently active, and open to lightweight brand experiences. That combination makes them uniquely valuable during massive cultural moments like the World Cup.
Tournament season creates predictable “in-between” windows where attention is high and behavior is routine. Before kickoff, during halftime, and between matches, fans often instinctively move to their phones. These aren’t wasted moments. They’re high-intent engagement windows where emotion, habit, and anticipation intersect.
That’s why mobile-first placements can be especially effective during the World Cup. They allow brands to show up during context-rich moments without competing directly with the live broadcast. Instead, they extend reach, reinforce recall, and stay present throughout the day, long after the match is over.
As strategies for World Cup 2026 take shape, the key insight is simple: attention no longer lives in just one place.
Brands that expand their thinking beyond the primary screen, and into the channels users engage with before, during, and after matches, will be better positioned to connect with audiences in meaningful and measurable ways.
This isn’t about chasing eyeballs on TV. It’s about meeting fans where they continue to engage.