FIFA World Cup 2026 has already delivered surprises, memorable performances, and no shortage of talking points.
The first edition featuring 48 teams was always going to be bigger than any World Cup before it. After all, as the saying goes, everything is bigger in America.
Questions were raised about whether an expanded format could maintain the quality and competitiveness of previous editions. As we enter the quarter-final stage of the tournament, the football itself has provided a strong response.
Cabo Verde's draw against Spain in the opening round of group stage fixtures signalled that this would not be a predictable tournament. Since then, Paraguay have eliminated Germany, Norway have knocked out Brazil, and the knockout rounds have produced dramatic encounters, including England's resilient win over Mexico at the Azteca and Argentina's late comeback against Egypt.
The tournament has also highlighted the increasing competitiveness of the international game. France, Argentina, and Mexico were the only teams to collect the maximum nine points during the group stage, while African nations have enjoyed a strong collective performance. Nine of the ten African representatives progressed beyond the group stage. The three host nations also played their part. Canada, Mexico, and the United States all reached the Round of 32, helping to generate strong momentum and visibility for the game across North America.
Individual records have been broken. Lionel Messi became the World Cup's all-time leading goalscorer and enters the quarter-finals as the tournament's leading scorer with eight goals, while Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player in history to score at six World Cups.
Away from the pitch, the competition has generated equally intense discussion. Ticket prices dominated much of the debate before kick-off and the Balogun red card case has become one of the tournament's most talked-about incidents.
As the tournament enters its decisive stage, six European nations, one South American nation and one African nation remain in contention for the trophy.
This article examines how the expanded tournament has performed across three areas. First, whether concerns around ticket pricing have affected stadium demand. Second, how the World Cup continues to convert sporting visibility into digital audience growth for players and national teams. Finally, what the remaining quarter-finalists reveal about the concentration of elite talent, from squad values to the clubs and leagues with the most players still competing for the trophy.
Strong demand despite ticket pricing concerns
Few topics generated more discussion before the tournament than ticket pricing.
It was pointed out that the significantly higher costs compared to previous editions risked reducing accessibility for supporters, particularly when combined with travel expenses across three host nations. It was also questioned whether an expanded 48-team tournament could realistically sustain demand across all matches.
The attendance figures tell a nuanced story.
Following the completion of the group stage, total attendance reached 4.64 million spectators across 72 matches, almost double the equivalent figure recorded in Qatar in 2022. Average attendance was approximately 64,500 spectators per match, while stadium utilisation reached 99.7%, equalling the highest rate recorded across the World Cup editions analysed over the past 32 years, matching Germany 2006.
While strong attendance figures do not automatically dismiss questions around affordability, the data suggests demand has remained exceptionally resilient. It is worth noting, however, that the North American sports market has ticket prices for major sporting and entertainment events that are generally higher than in many other parts of the world. Attendance data alone, therefore, cannot determine whether supporters from overseas have been priced out to some extent.
The World Cup continues to drive global audience growth
Strong demand has been visible not only inside stadiums. It has also been reflected in the tournament's ability to generate global engagement.
Football's biggest stage remains one of the sport's most powerful platforms for building a global personal brand and no player better illustrates this than Cabo Verde goalkeeper Vozinha. He has increased his Instagram following by more than 860 times during the tournament, growing from just 32,500 followers before kick-off to 28 million. He is now one of the most followed footballers in the world on Instagram.
It is a reminder of the unique visibility that the game's biggest competition can provide.
Norway's Erling Haaland has recorded the second-largest increase in followers during the tournament, adding 16.4 million new followers. The striker has been one of the standout performers, scoring seven goals to date and helping Norway reach the quarter-finals, including a brace against Brazil in the Round of 32.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Neymar have each added at least six million followers during the tournament. Ronaldo remains the world's most-followed player with 673 million Instagram followers, ahead of Messi on 512 million and Neymar on 240 million. Collectively, the trio now command almost 1.5 billion followers. The fourth most-followed player, Kylian Mbappé, currently has 133 million followers, significantly behind Neymar and less than a fifth of Ronaldo's audience.
Some of the game’s young stars have also seen significant increases. Despite relatively limited playing time, Brazil's Endrick recorded one of the largest increases and Mexico's Gilberto Mora similarly experienced substantial growth as the teenager emerged as one of the breakout stars of the host nation's campaign.
The same trend is visible at national team level. Brazil has generated the largest increase in Instagram followers, adding almost four million followers, while hosts Mexico and Ronaldo's Portugal have also recorded significant growth. Interestingly, Mexico is the only one of the three host nations to feature among the leading teams for follower growth, with neither the United States nor Canada recording comparable gains. Cabo Verde, one of the tournament's standout stories, has likewise experienced extraordinary relative audience growth.
The growth in digital audiences has been mirrored by strong broadcast performance. According to FIFA, the opening matches featuring the three host nations attracted more than 50 million viewers across Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Several markets also recorded record-breaking audiences during the group stage, underlining the tournament's ability to generate attention across both traditional and digital media.
Elite talent still dominates the latter stages
The latter stages continue to be dominated by teams built around players competing at the highest levels of the club game. According to Football Benchmark's player valuation methodology, six of the ten most valuable squads in the tournament remain in contention.
The quarter-finals also feature some significant contrasts in squad value. France (€1.57bn) boasts a squad worth more than three times Morocco's (€470m). Spain (€1.47bn), England (€1.42bn), and Argentina (€818m) each possess squads valued at more than double those of Belgium (€626m), Norway (€599m), and Switzerland (€342m), respectively. Switzerland represents the notable outlier. Entering the tournament with the 20th-most valuable squad among the 48 participating nations, they have defied expectations to reach the final eight.
The remaining players also provide valuable insight into where the world's elite talent is being developed and competing on a weekly basis.
Arsenal FC, Atlético de Madrid and FC Barcelona are the most represented clubs among the quarter-finalists, with 10 players each still involved in the tournament. Manchester City FC rank fourth with eight players remaining, while Aston Villa FC and Paris Saint-Germain follow with seven each.
While such representation highlights the quality and depth of the teams listed, it also creates challenges ahead of the 2026/27 club season. Many of the clubs with the highest number of players still involved will see key members of their squads return later than their teammates, reducing opportunities for pre-season preparation and increasing the demands placed on players following another summer of international football. For clubs competing across multiple competitions, managing workloads during the opening months of the season may prove particularly important.
In terms of league representation, the Premier League remains the dominant source of talent.
With 62 players still represented, England's top division comfortably leads the way, ahead of La Liga (41), Ligue 1 (27), Serie A (21) and the Bundesliga (20).
While La Liga is the Premier League's closest challenger, it still trails by 21 players. The gap becomes even more pronounced beyond the top two. Ligue 1's representation is less than half that of the English top flight, while Serie A and the Bundesliga each contribute roughly one-third of that number. Only nine leagues in total have more than two players remaining in the tournament, while no league outside the “Big Five” has more than five players in the quarter-finals.
A bigger World Cup, familiar foundations
The first World Cup featuring 48 teams has so far delivered much of what its architects hoped for and what some critics doubted: greater opportunity without significantly diminishing the competitiveness that defines the tournament.
The expanded format has provided a platform for emerging nations to challenge established powers, generated new stories capable of capturing global attention, and shown that supporter demand remains exceptionally strong, even amid concerns over pricing, travel distances and the scale of the tournament.
That does not mean those concerns disappear. Strong demand in a major commercial market such as North America does not, on its own, answer the question of whether fans from across the world are being priced out of the game’s biggest event. But one criticism FIFA has so far avoided is the suggestion that expansion would leave lower-profile matches exposed in front of empty stadiums.
At the same time, the tournament has reinforced several long-established realities of the modern game. The World Cup remains football's most powerful platform for audience building, capable of transforming players' visibility and profile within a matter of weeks.
As the tournament enters its decisive stage, there are still stories that challenge the classic hierarchy, but overall, the quarter-final line-up also serves as a reminder that, more often than not, nations with the deepest pools of elite talent find their way to the latter stages.
The biggest matches are still to come and the final verdict on the 2026 World Cup remains some distance away. But so far, the expanded format has largely delivered: more teams, more stories, and more opportunities, while preserving far more of the tournament's quality and competitiveness than many expected.
Football Benchmark's intelligence platforms provide data and insights across player valuations, social media performance, club finances, talent development, and more, helping stakeholders better understand the business and competitive dynamics shaping the global game. To learn more about our platforms, research capabilities, and advisory services, contact us at info@footballbenchmark.com.
