The 2026 World Cup has been a tournament where alcohol brands hoped to win influence through sponsorship

The 2026 men’s football World Cup has provided great goals, shock results and plenty of entertainment. It has also been extremely lucrative, earning Fifa billions of dollars in broadcasting rights, ticket sales and commercial sponsorship.

Those commercial partnerships include alcohol producers, whose brands have appeared across television broadcasts, digital platforms, social media and stadiums.

For example, Fifa has a long-standing sponsorship arrangement with the world’s biggest beer company. AB InBev owns Budweiser, which is the tournament’s official beer, and Michelob Ultra, the sponsor of the player of the match awards.

AB InBev and Fifa are delighted with the strength of their long-standing partnership and the World Cup’s ability to connect brands with millions of fans worldwide. From a business perspective, it is one of sport’s most successful sponsorship arrangements.

But from a public health perspective, what does it mean for the millions of children and young people who have been watching the tournament? For alcohol sponsorship has become an increasingly prominent feature of elite sport.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, branding was largely confined to adverts on TV or pitch-side boards, or some tournament sponsorship, such as the Carling Cup (now known as the Carabo Cup after the Thai energy drink brand that sponsors it).

But in 2026, marketing is far more sophisticated. Alcohol brands are heavily integrated into the fan experience, appearing in digital content, interactive promotions, fan zones and social media feeds that extend far beyond the 90 minutes on the pitch.

This evolution reflects broader changes in sports marketing, where sponsors have moved beyond being simply advertisers. Now they have become partners in creating the emotional experience surrounding major events.

But research consistently shows that greater exposure to alcohol marketing is associated with earlier drinking among adolescents, and increased alcohol consumption among those who already drink.

Marketing also increases positive attitudes towards alcohol, strengthens brand recognition and reinforces the perception that drinking is a normal part of sport and celebration.

Normalisation

Yet recent research my colleagues and I conducted suggests that some young people have quite a sophisticated understanding of alcohol sponsorship.

Many recognise that companies sponsor football and rugby because they attract huge audiences and create positive emotional associations with brands. As one participant put it: “People see [the product] – they want to get it.”

Lots of our research participants described how commonplace alcohol branding had become, saying they encountered it every time they watched football or rugby, at the stadium, on television and social media.

And many of the 44 young people aged 11 to 17 in Scotland we spoke to questioned why alcohol was linked to sport at all. They described the relationship as “confusing” and “ironic”, struggling to reconcile elite athletes and healthy lifestyles with unhealthy products that can increase the risk of cancer and liver disease.

At the same time, though, they understood why companies invest so heavily in sport.

Football is one of the few global events watched by entire families, meaning children are exposed to alcohol branding from an early age simply by watching matches with parents and siblings. As one young person observed: “If you’ve got it shown to you from a young age, it’s going to be more hardwired into your brain.”

This reflects decades of evidence showing that marketing works through repeated exposure rather than any single advertisement. Sponsorship links brands with excitement, belonging, celebration and national pride, making those associations part of people’s memories of the event itself.

The challenge is becoming even more complex as alcohol companies increasingly promote zero-alcohol products and use “alibi” marketing that relies on familiar colours, logos and slogans rather than explicit references to alcohol. Although these sponsorship campaigns are often presented as more responsible, our research suggests many young people do not distinguish them from advertising for alcoholic drinks.

As one participant explained: “I just saw the alcohol brand, I never really thought of the zeros.” Others viewed these campaigns as a way of working around advertising restrictions while continuing to promote core alcohol brands.

None of this means that every child who watches football will go on to drink alcohol. Young people’s behaviour is shaped by families, peers, culture and many other influences. But alcohol marketing is one of those influences, and unlike many others, it is something governments can regulate.

Our research shows that young people themselves recognise the disconnect between promoting healthy sport while surrounding it with alcohol branding. If they can see that contradiction, perhaps the people who run international football should too.