FIFA World Cup 2026’s Influence on the Gaming World

The FIFA World Cup 2026 is in full swing, and it is delivering exactly what was expected: big matches, surprises in the group stage, and the kind of global attention that no other sporting event can generate.

With 48 nations competing across the United States, Mexico, and Canada, the scale of this tournament is genuinely unprecedented, and the interest it has attracted goes well beyond the football pitch.

On the betting side, this is already being described as the largest wagering event in the sport’s history. Major media outlets, including the BBC and CNBC, have reported on the sheer volume of market activity surrounding the tournament. Reputable bookmakers are fully invested in covering every angle of the competition, and fans who want to find out more can do so quickly through the range of betting platforms now offering World Cup coverage. As things stand, Spain and France lead the odds for the trophy, with England close behind.

But there is another dimension to this tournament that has received considerably less attention: its impact on the gaming industry. From football simulation games to esports platforms, mobile experiences, and even streaming services entering the market, the World Cup 2026 is shaping up to be the most significant moment in football gaming history.

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World Cup 2026: The Context That Makes This Tournament Unique for Gaming

Several factors make this edition of the World Cup particularly significant from a gaming industry perspective. The expanded 48-team format means more matches, more nations, and a longer tournament window, all of which translates into a longer period of elevated consumer interest.

More people are engaged with football for longer, giving game publishers an extended window to attract players and drive spending.

The location also matters enormously. The United States is one of the three co-hosts, and American interest in football has been growing steadily for years. According to research from Ampere Analysis, 40% of regular sports fans in the US now say they enjoy watching football.

That is a substantial audience, and one that the gaming industry has not yet fully converted. The World Cup, taking place on home soil, is the most direct possible catalyst for pushing that conversion.

EA Sports FC 26: Positioned to Gain the Most

Despite walking away from its official FIFA licence a few years ago, Electronic Arts remains the dominant force in football gaming. EA Sports FC 26 is actually expected to be the biggest beneficiary in the gaming industry of this World Cup.

EA’s response to the tournament has been to develop a dedicated in-game experience called The World’s Game, a mode built specifically to capitalize on the heightened interest in football that a World Cup reliably brings.

The historical data support that expectation. During the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, sales of FIFA 23 increased by 40% in the United States alone.

Ampere Analysis data also shows that global daily active users were 20% higher during the period when the official World Cup 2022 mode was active, compared to a comparable period for EA Sports FC 25. Those are significant numbers, and they indicate that a World Cup does not just bring in new players temporarily — it drives real, measurable engagement.

The US market is where the biggest long-term opportunity lies. Data show that the US now accounts for 17% of EA Sports FC’s monthly active users across Xbox, PlayStation, and Steam.

The Gaming Industry’s Response to World Cup 2026

Since FIFA moved to a non-exclusive licensing strategy in 2023, the benefits of the tournament are no longer concentrated with a single publisher.

Multiple games and platforms have built World Cup experiences, and the table below summarises the main ones:

Each of these represents a different approach to the same opportunity:

• EA is betting on its existing dominant audience and the pull of its franchise.
• Konami is leaning into the esports side.
• Sega is offering a management simulation for a different type of football fan.
• Gamefam is targeting the vast, younger Roblox audience.
• Netflix is using the tournament to directly push into gaming, with subscriber retention and advertising revenue as the underlying goals.

FIFA’s Non-Exclusive Licensing: A Deliberate Strategy

The shift FIFA made in 2023, moving away from exclusivity and toward a model where multiple publishers can licence the brand, is what makes the current landscape possible.

Previously, EA held an exclusive deal, meaning it was the only publisher permitted to officially use the FIFA name and associated tournament branding. When that arrangement ended, FIFA took the decision to open its licence to multiple partners simultaneously.

The result is that the 2026 World Cup’s gaming footprint is considerably wider than any previous tournament. While EA remains the dominant player and is still expected to see the largest overall uplift in engagement and revenue, the benefits are now distributed across publishers, platforms, and media companies in a way that was not possible before.

That is good for consumers (more options, more experiences, more ways to engage with the tournament through gaming) and it is good for the broader industry.

Roblox, Netflix, and the Expansion Beyond Traditional Gaming

Two of the more interesting entries on the list above are Gamefam’s FIFA Super Soccer and Netflix’s FIFA World Cup Launch Edition, because both represent the tournament’s reach extending into spaces that were not traditionally associated with football gaming.

FIFA Super Soccer, built within the Roblox platform, has accumulated over one billion plays since its launch and currently has more than ten million monthly active users.

Netflix’s entry is different in motivation. The streaming giant, working with development partner Delphi Interactive, is using its FIFA World Cup Launch Edition to attract new subscribers, retain existing ones, and generate advertising revenue during a period of peak football interest.

It is less about building a football gaming franchise and more about using the tournament as a content hook, but the effect of bringing more people into football gaming experiences, from whatever angle, adds to the overall picture.

What This Means for Football Gaming Going Forward

The World Cup 2026 is not just a short-term sales event for the gaming industry. The patterns it establishes, particularly around EA Sports FC’s penetration of the US market and the performance of FIFA’s non-exclusive licensing model, will shape how publishers approach future tournaments and how FIFA structures its gaming partnerships.

If the US audience converts at even a fraction of the rate suggested by the gap between current and potential players, football gaming in America could look very different by the time the next World Cup arrives.

And if Netflix’s entry performs well, it will signal to other media platforms that football gaming is a viable tool for subscriber acquisition, which could bring even more investment into the space.

For anyone in the gaming industry watching this tournament, the matches themselves are only part of the story. The numbers being tracked in publisher dashboards and platform analytics over the next few weeks may prove just as significant.

Betting references in this article are included for contextual purposes only and reflect market data at the time of writing. Odds change frequently during a live tournament. Please bet responsibly.