Every four years, the FIFA World Cup brings together die-hard football fans, casual viewers, and national audiences around one of sport's biggest global moments. But the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be different. Held across three host countries and 16 cities, the tournament will operate at a scale far beyond recent editions, with audiences engaging both on the ground and online.
For PR and communications professionals, that creates complex challenges, including how to maintain a clear narrative when the event is being experienced across different markets, cultures, and platforms at the same time.
Telum Media spoke with Dave Worsley, a New Zealand-based journalist and contract sports media, marketing, and events consultant, who has worked on local and international major sporting events for organisations including FIFA, the International Olympic Committee, the International Basketball Federation, and the Association of Tennis Professionals.
He shares what communicators can learn from the scale of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the risks of fragmented audience behaviour, the role of brands around major sporting events, and why human judgement still matters when plans change.
"Good communications" at the World Cup
The 2026 FIFA World Cup presents a communications challenge shaped by scale, geography, and public mood. Organisers and partners will need to manage more than the usual tournament narrative, particularly when audience expectations differ across host markets.
For Dave, the tournament is already entering a complicated communications environment. "There's a cautious amount of optimism or pessimism ahead of this FIFA World Cup, as a result of its sheer scale, current issues around the world, and the leadership in the United States."
The challenge for communicators is that the tournament's size could become part of the public narrative, rather than simply the backdrop to it.
"You could say it's a glass half full and that football will rule over any potential issues, or glass half empty and that real football and sports fans will be left behind by the scale and cost of the tournament," he says.
Dave further explains that the host markets will also shape the event's tone in various ways. The United States, Canada, and Mexico each bring their own sporting culture, media environment, and audience expectations. He points to Mexico as a market likely to bring strong fan energy and generate positivity around its games, as it is a football-loving nation with a strong culture.
That leaves organisers with a dual task - making the tournament feel global, while still allowing each market, team, and audience to see itself in the story.
"FIFA will have strong messaging which will be both global and tailored to each nation, using the positivity of football and the stars from each nation to bring the world together," he added.
He also points out that emotional connection is central to the communications task.
"Good communications entails the understanding that the game is more than just sport. For many, it is life.
"The message will be that no matter what issues there may be for fans - football overcomes any problems around the world and brings nations together and the world as one."
Keeping control when fans are on the move
A moving fan base does not automatically mean an unmanageable audience. Dave says that for many football supporters, especially in Europe, following a team across cities is already part of the culture.
For communications teams, the pressure lies in how the broader experience is perceived as fans move between host cities. Dave explains that the risk is that practical issues begin to shape public perception.
"Communications plans need to stick to the narrative and keep to a strong message. Any sign of weakness will be exploited by all who want to react negatively toward the tournament," he says.
That does not mean over-controlling every message. It means knowing the core narrative, who needs it, and how quickly it can be reinforced when attention shifts.
"Stick to the message. Control the narrative," Dave advises.
The sharper lesson comes in moments when something goes wrong. Dave's tip is to “front foot it”.
"Don't delay, as everything then looks suspicious. Take the heat and defeat. The longer any issues drag on, the worse they get. Be honest and as open as possible."
Brands face opportunities and constraints
The World Cup's reach gives brands and communities a chance to join a global conversation, but Dave cautions that scale does not automatically translate into freedom.
"There are big opportunities for brands to do well from the tournament, however it is tightly controlled and run as a business worth massive amount of money. In some ways, expansion doesn't necessarily lead to more opportunities - it can actually restrict them."
He explains that brands need to take market nuance into account, with each host country bringing different sporting cultures, audience behaviours, and expectations around the tournament. The opportunity, then, is not simply to attach a brand to the World Cup. It is to find a relevant role in the conversation without forcing the connection.
For official partners, that means working within the tournament’s structure. For non-sponsoring brands, Dave says, "It's an opportunity for them to be the most creative without breaching rules to get the best mileage."
Protecting trust when false narratives move fast
Rumours have always moved quickly in football, but AI-generated content poses a sharper credibility risk to organisations, media teams, and rights holders. During a World Cup, false quotes, misleading posts and poorly checked material can spread before official channels have time to respond.
For Dave, the concern is not only the technology itself, but how quickly unchecked material can enter the media cycle. He says that some organisations are already using AI tools without sufficient oversight, while journalists under pressure can also let poor-quality AI-generated copy slip through without proper checks.
For communications teams, the practical lesson is that speed cannot come at the expense of verification. In high-pressure moments, trust is protected by having clear approval lines, strong monitoring, and people who can distinguish between useful AI support and content that still needs human judgement. Dave says that tournament organisers understand this and will have specialist teams making the most of the available tools.
At a rights-heavy global event, credibility also depends on preparation. Organisations need to understand what they can say, use, and share before the tournament begins, rather than trying to interpret the rules during a reputational issue.
Dave believes that FIFA will have a strong list of requirements and rules in place around media and AI, saying they will "duly clamp down hard on those who breach licence or broadcast agreements."
A newsroom approach to event storytelling
Dave's journalism background has shaped his view that major event communications should start with the clearest version of the story, and the aim is not to overload the narrative.
"You can approach a major sporting event by keeping communications clean and letting respective nations add their own angles to it – this is how reporting for the IOC news team does things," he says.
"Give unbiased stories which can be added to by a particular nation."
For PR and communications teams, this is a reminder to think like an editor before thinking like a promoter. Dave explains that no matter which newsroom or events you work in, it's about understanding who the audience is and what they expect to read, watch, or listen to. It also means resisting the urge to tell audiences what to think.
"Try and keep the story to what happened, where and when, and let the audience put their own slant on it," he says.
The lesson mega-events keep teaching
The wider industry often talks about event communications in terms of plans, processes, tools, and scenarios, but for Dave, the most underestimated thing in communications during events is people.
"Plans and processes are all very nice and look good on paper or online, but people do unexpected things. Passion and emotion override what AI or process want fans, spectators, or athletes to do," he explains.
"You can do all the planning you want, but you can’t control the emotions of people or the weather - that's been the biggest call in event management."
That is where flexibility becomes more than a useful trait. Dave advises that this is a core requirement for major event communications, especially when audiences are watching in real time, and stories can shift quickly.
Dave also points to the value of experienced media managers: those with flexibility, media knowledge, strong relationships, and established networks. In a high-pressure environment, he says judgement and relationships can be just as important as the plan itself.
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