The FIFA World Cup 2026 is set to be the biggest sporting event in history. With an expanded format, more matches, and three host nations, it will capture global attention at an unprecedented scale.

In 2022, over 5 billion people engaged with the tournament, with an average of 143 million viewers per match. In 2026, those numbers are expected to grow even further, creating a unique opportunity for brands to connect with highly engaged audiences. 

To help advertisers navigate this moment, YouGov and Ogury partnered to understand: 

• how audiences will engage with the tournament 
• how these insights can be translated into scalable, addressable audiences

How Fans Wait & Watch  

Looking at the UK, excitement for the 2026 World Cup is already building, but it differs significantly between general audiences and football fans.

• 31% of the general public say they are excited about the tournament
• Among football fans, that figure rises to 65%

While the World Cup reaches a broad audience, engagement is not evenly distributed. Reaching audiences with a higher propensity to engage is essential to driving campaign performance.

When it comes to consumption habits, the World Cup remains a shared, real-time cultural moment, with strong lean-back viewing behaviors: 

• 55% plan to watch matches live on TV at home
• 36% will catch highlights via television
• 27% intend to watch in pubs or bars
• Social media and mobile viewing complement — but don’t replace — traditional formats

For advertisers, this creates two clear opportunities: aligning with high-attention environments like live broadcasts, and reinforcing messaging through multi-channel touchpoints (mobile, social, video).

Closing the Gap Between Insight and Execution

Audience insights are only valuable if they can be activated effectively. That’s where the Ogury and YouGov partnership comes in.

YouGov provides deep, consent-based audience intelligence, built on millions of survey responses globally from its proprietary panel. Ogury translates these insights into scalable personas, ready for activation through Ogury or within leading DSPs. Underpinned by an LLM-based rigorous audience-matching methodology, these segments are not only accurate but also reliable at scale.

This partnership enables brands and agencies to directly activate YouGov-defined seasonal and cultural audiences through Ogury — aligning campaigns with real-world moments that matter.

Who the Audience Is: Distinct Personas, Ready for Activation 

To bring these insights to life for the FIFA World Cup, Ogury has translated YouGov’s audiences into pre-defined, scalable personas with distinct behaviors and interests:

• Hardcore Football Fans: Predominantly male (80%), skewing older, with strong engagement in sports content and live viewing
• FIFA Gamers: Younger, digitally native audiences with high affinity for gaming, sports, and online content
• Food Delivery Users: A more balanced gender split, combining entertainment consumption with convenience-driven behaviors 

These segments go beyond “football fans” to represent nuanced audiences with different motivations, media habits, and purchase drivers. 

By combining YouGov’s unmatched audience intelligence with Ogury’s activation capabilities, brands can: 

• Accelerate campaign launch with pre-defined, ready-to-activate segments
• Increase relevance through audiences based on real consumer insights
• Engage personas with consistency and scale across environments

Together, Ogury and YouGov close the gap between insight and activation — turning audience intelligence into measurable impact.

Ready to activate World Cup audiences that matter? Get in touch to get started.