Hamburg: FIFA has unveiled its latest marketing and communications strategy for the FIFA World Cup 2026™, combining football, gaming and entertainment through a first-of-its-kind crossover campaign designed to engage new generations of fans beyond traditional football audiences.
At the centre of the initiative is the ‘FIFA Gaming Couch’, a new marketing intellectual property (IP) developed by FIFA and its creative lead agency Jung von Matt SPORTS. The campaign aims to create a cultural bridge between football, gaming and entertainment while supporting FIFA’s broader digital football strategy of reaching more gamers through expanded gaming experiences.
The FIFA Gaming Couch campaign introduces a new living-room-inspired platform designed to create an inclusive environment around football gaming and connect with diverse fan communities. As part of the activation, FIFA created a six-week content-led road trip from Los Angeles to New York City, engaging with creators, host cities and gaming communities ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026™.
The journey featured a FIFA-branded mail delivery truck carrying the FIFA Gaming Couch, driven by a character named Dean, travelling through locations including Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Dallas, Route 66 and Miami before reaching New York for the tournament’s final weekend. Inspired by 1990s American sitcom storytelling, the content series follows Dean’s encounters with creators, athletes and entertainment personalities.
The campaign content has generated more than 60 million views across FIFA’s owned and partner platforms through hundreds of content pieces featuring more than 70 creators, along with collaborations with Netflix and Netflix Games.
The creator-led campaign features appearances from global personalities including skateboard legend Tony Hawk, former Borussia Dortmund and German national team player Marco Reus, Brazilian football icon and Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo (“R9”), streamer and content creator IShowSpeed, NFL player Jakob Johnson, former Canadian footballer Lauren Sesselmann and creator group Yes Theory.
Alongside the digital storytelling, FIFA has hosted pop-up experiences in West Hollywood, at Netflix House in Dallas and in Miami, bringing fans and creators together around FIFA’s expanding gaming portfolio, including FIFA Heroes, FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition, Roblox, Rocket League and Football Manager.
In Dallas, FIFA and Netflix also created a crossover activation featuring Netflix’s entertainment property Squid Game. The final stop of the FIFA Gaming Couch journey will take place at Fanatics Fest at the Javits Center in New York City during the final weekend of the FIFA World Cup 2026™, where FIFA and Netflix Games will host the “Couch Cup”, a FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition creator tournament featuring eight participants, including actor and creator Jacob Romero and actress and singer Kiawentiio.
“Football and gaming both have deep, passionate cultures, and both have the power to shape wider pop culture and pull in new fans. That’s the driving idea behind everything we do with FIFA Digital Football, and the FIFA Gaming Couch is a perfect example. We’re investing in storytelling to stretch our original IP into a rich cultural platform for fans and brands alike“, says Christian Volk, Director Gaming & Esports at FIFA.
The campaign has been developed with Jung von Matt SPORTS leading IP creation, content narrative, design and communication. Experiential agency Episode1 managed pop-up events in Los Angeles, Dallas and Miami, while BDX Media supported content production and creator management.
The initiative is part of FIFA’s wider digital football and gaming strategy, which includes the launch of FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition on Netflix Games, the release of the mobile version of FIFA Heroes, and official FIFA World Cup 2026™ integrations across gaming platforms such as Rocket League, Football Manager 2026 and Roblox.
FIFA said the strategy is aimed at expanding the reach of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ by creating new touchpoints for gamers, creators and entertainment audiences worldwide
