The FIFA World Cup comes to a close on Sunday, as Spain and Argentina face off for the championship. The tournament’s scale is difficult to overstate: More than 75% of the world’s population was expected to engage with it in some way, whether by attending matches, watching on TV, or following online, according to Bank of America Global Research data.
Along with memories of unexpected upsets, festive crowd scenes, and controversies, many of the technologies and design systems showcased at the 2026 World Cup will live on in one form or another.
Here’s a look at some of the innovations we’ve seen and how they may continue to affect sports and other industries.
Artificial Intelligence
Long before the tournament got underway, AI was being used to analyze everything from stadium operations to which team would win the trophy. Bank of America Global Research found that Microsoft’s Copilot AI considered France and Spain equal favorites to win the tournament. We’ll find out on Sunday how that prediction holds up.
Lenovo, the PC and computing infrastructure company, deployed an AI system that provided teams with access to more than 2,000 soccer-specific metrics and petabytes of historical data. The company’s AI also helps viewers understand what referees are seeing at any given moment. Lenovo’s technology is partly designed to level the proverbial playing field among teams, regardless of their resources. Similar advances may continue to have that effect in soccer, other sports, and other industries.
AI bots were also deployed in host cities large and small to answer tourists’ questions about where to stay, eat, park, and watch the games. Uber even offered ground-level directions through “smart wayfinding” to help attendees navigate from their seats to pickup zones after games. These tools are part of a broader rollout of AI and related technologies in tourism. As travelers increasingly use AI to help plan and book trips, these bots and their successors are likely to continue guiding visitors for the foreseeable future.
Ticketing
World Cup ticket prices this time around rose about 1,000% on average from the last time the United States hosted the tournament in 1994, while average household incomes increased only 34% over that time frame. FIFA kept fans in the dark about many ticketing details. Buyers could not choose their exact seats and had limited information about how many additional tickets would become available. Those practices led state attorneys general in New York and New Jersey to investigate.
Some fans also reported difficulty acquiring tickets they had paid for, especially when dealing with both FIFA’s official ticketing system and outside platforms, particularly the industry giant StubHub. FIFA encouraged prospective attendees to buy resale tickets through its own platform, but the organization charges a 30% surcharge, split evenly between the seller and buyer. Some fans instead turned to familiar third-party alternatives.
Industry experts said some of the problems may have stemmed from “speculative sellers” on third-party marketplaces. These sellers list tickets they do not possess, expecting to buy them more cheaply and fulfill the order later.
Whatever the case, StubHub has since been sued by disappointed fans. The company declined to comment on the suit specifically but said its “singular goal is to get fans into events.” However the case plays out, the complicated issues involving resale platforms, shady resellers, ticketing apps, and event promoters seem unlikely to be resolved soon, nor do concerns about ever-escalating ticket prices and frustrating buying experiences at events from pro sports games to big-name concerts.
Security and Surveillance
The U.S. federal government committed more than $1 billion to World Cup security through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security. At least $500 million went to a Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems program—a set of systems for keeping rogue drones at bay.
Handling unwanted drones in a crowded environment isn’t easy; destroying them can cause injury or panic, and jamming their radio signals can have unintended consequences for other people and systems trying to communicate in the area. The Los Angeles Police Department reportedly had access to technology that could hijack unauthorized drones and steer them to designated safe areas. A company called Fortem was also expected to have its own AI-powered drones ready, armed with nets to capture small crewless aircraft near stadiums.
Drones are obviously not a problem limited to this tournament, and the World Cup was expected to serve as a kind of proving ground for antidrone technology that might work elsewhere. Of course, such technology raises concerns about governmental overreach, since it can make it more difficult to use drones for personal photography, photojournalism, commercial activities, or any other purpose.
AI-powered cameras were also expected to be deployed at World Cup venues to monitor for suspicious people and activity. Those too raise concerns about privacy and false alarms, amid increasing concerns about AI-powered systems tracking people and license plates around the country, as well as concerns about potentially invasive surveillance at other arenas, including NFL venues and New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Design and marketing
The World Cup proved to be a showcase of sorts for innovative design and marketing. Norway’s national team and Nike showcased jerseys with text inspired by the country’s historic runic writing, while still designed to be legible and, of course, written in standard Latin characters as required by FIFA. Google rolled out 69 of its signature Doodles, inspired by a mix of historic soccer imagery and the iconography of particular nations participating in the tournament.
In an era where marketers—and audiences—are increasingly wary of homogenous “slop” (whether AI-generated or not), designs with some historic gravitas and ties to a particular place seem likely to stick around beyond any one sporting event.
Some fans have similarly sought unofficial jerseys from independent designers, reflecting a broader interest in less corporate sports attire. Teams will likely look for ways to incorporate that independent spirit into their official clothing lines.
Still, big brands found creative ways to woo fans around the World Cup. After reports of Scottish visitors drinking Boston bars dry and celebrating in the streets, United Airlines and the ad agency 72andSunny quickly ran a Massachusetts billboard ad with the text, “Go visit your new Scottish friends; With flights to Edinburgh and Glasgow.” Chains like Waffle House, Walmart, Buc-ee’s, and Bass Pro Shops got an unexpected social media boost from foreign sports fans who were overwhelmed—mostly in a good way—by the sheer size of their American outlets and offerings. Despite international tensions and rising travel prices, travel is still a top interest of Americans, and marketers would likely do well to continue to emphasize unofficial ties and friendship between the U.S. and other nations.
But not all World Cup marketing went smoothly. Brands naturally wanted to celebrate the success of the popular New Zealand defender Tim Payne, but delivery company DoorDash inexplicably kept tagging rapper T-Pain on X instead.
“The intern is gonna shit a brick when they realize,” T-Pain wrote in response.
