World Cup Data report

Via this FT article.

The Bank of America report on the World Cup is mentioned. This isn't available to download at the time of posting. I think a lot of geographers would find it very interesting.

"The 2026 World Cup will be the most connected and data-intensive sporting event ever. AI, exascale computing, digital twins, data centres, robots and autonomous vehicles are just a few of the technologies converging together at this event. The final match could consume up to 7% of global internet traffic, as viewing shifts decisively from linear TV to streaming, mobile and social platforms. Digital engagement already rivals traditional broadcasting, turning more than 6 billion fans from passive viewers into real-time participants across multiple screens and platforms."

Sport as an economic superpower is also a feature of the report. Here's the most valuable players in the tournament...

Yahoo News has a similar feature on this report

FIFA has also completed its own socioeconomic analysis which can be downloaded as a PDF from here.

The headline figures from this are:

Among the key estimates, the FIFA World Cup 2026 analysis highlights that across the host countries 6.5 million people are expected to attend the tournament. According to OE, the tournament could help drive up to USD 40.9 billion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), deliver USD 8.28 billion in social benefits and underpin the creation of nearly 824,000 full time equivalent (FTE) jobs globally. Specifically for the US, OE estimates that 185,000 FTE jobs could be created, with 30.5 billion in gross output and USD 17.2 billion in GDP.