For Victor Montagliani, the summer of 2026 will mark the culmination of a plan set in motion eight years ago.
When Montagliani was in 2016 elected as president of CONCACAF—the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football—he was extremely well placed to envision the potential benefits of the 2026 FIFA World Cup being hosted in the region. He had been one of the architects of the 2026 bid through his previous role as President of Canada Soccer, during which he traveled the world with his counterparts at US Soccer and the Mexican federation to promote the vision of how a World Cup in North America would provide an unprecedented boost to the popularity and growth of global soccer. Fast forward a few years, he and his CONCACAF team started planning to ensure the organization would be ideally placed to harness the interest in the biggest event in sport being hosted in their backyard.
“I knew that hosting the World Cup presented a tremendous opportunity for the growth of the game in the entire CONCACAF region,” said Montagliani.
Montagliani's strategy has been to put “football first” in every decision the organization makes. Over the past eight years, CONCACAF has worked to expand soccer throughout its 41 member countries; to augment the coaching and player development infrastructure; to open opportunities for women; to expand and enhance existing competitions, like their flagship Gold Cup and to create new competitions that benefit players and fans—for instance, the CONCACAF Nations League, launched in 2018 to provide consistent, high-level competition for all the confederation’s national teams. The “football first” strategy has paid dividends with CONCACAF growing since 2016 from a Confederation with significant financial challenges to now projecting $1bn+ of revenues for the 2022-2026 four-year soccer cycle.
After all that work, the 2026 World Cup does indeed promise to be a watershed moment for CONCACAF. Not only will the world’s biggest sporting event be hosted in the CONCACAF region, in 16 cities throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico, but the confederation will have a minimum of six teams participating in the tournament.
“We have turbocharged all aspects of the confederation’s work so we are in a great place to take advantage of the increased interest and fandom in football that will come as a result of the World Cup coming to our region,” said Montagliani. The last time the U.S. hosted a World Cup, in 1994, the American soccer fan base alone grew 33%.
‘Partnering with CONCACAF is key’ to reaching soccer’s young fan base
Brands are jumping in to take advantage of that expected World Cup fever—and the increased fan interest in CONCACAF overall.
The run-up to the 2026 World Cup features CONCACAF’s two national team competitions, the venerable Gold Cup and the newer Nations League. The last two Nations League finals saw more than 100,000 fans attend in person and attracted more than 8 million viewers in the U.S. alone, while more than 72,000 fans attended the 2023 Gold Cup final at SoFi Stadium.
Fan interest is high, said Montagliani, and “the growth is only going to continue, with compelling CONCACAF competitions on the horizon. The great thing about our sport is the connectivity of all of these competitions—meaning that brands can tell a continuous story of great teams, players and fans.” Recently, longstanding CONCACAF Gold Cup sponsors Modelo, Toyota and Valvoline re-upped their investments, while the confederation has signed Saudi oil company Aramco and Japanese sports equipment marketer Molten as new partners.
Molten understands the uniqueness of this moment in the region.
“We believe the timing of this partnership could not be better,” said Molten USA President Melissa Dawson. “Not only is the excitement expected to grow in the three host countries of the 2026 World Cup, but also around all the CONCACAF territories, as their chances to qualify have increased significantly. There are also many soccer events being held in the coming years in North America before and after the World Cup that should help to further expand the sport’s popularity.”
Molten, a worldwide leader in manufacturing balls used for volleyball and basketball, has been working to expand its presence in soccer. As part of its seven-year agreement with CONCACAF, Molten balls will be the official match balls for all CONCACAF national team competitions, men’s and women’s, beginning this year.
“We know that CONCACAF and soccer in North America keeps growing in both audience fans and participants of the game,” said Dawson. “The fan base is young, and they are very passionate for their national teams and clubs. With football/soccer being the most popular sport in the world, having this partnership with CONCACAF is key to connect with this demographic across the region.”
‘The time for brands to get involved is now’
The North American runway to the 2026 World Cup includes the upcoming and expanded FIFA Club World Cup, also scheduled to be hosted in the U.S. in July 2025. The Club World Cup will bring European attention-getters like Real Madrid and Manchester City to North American audiences. Club soccer already has been a hot property in North America, with the expansion of Major League Soccer, the arrival of global superstar Lionel Messi to MLS’ Inter Miami for the Leagues Cup championship last year, and increased rivalry between MLS and Liga MX.
Also on tap to keep soccer fans involved are regional tournaments for women’s soccer: the CONCACAF W Gold Cup for the national teams, and the new CONCACAF W Champions Cup for the region’s women’s club teams. The U.S. and Mexico also have jointly bid to host the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, with an announcement on the winning host due in May.
“The time for brands to get involved is now,” said Montagliani. “We are on a tremendous trajectory in CONCACAF. All the work we have been doing, whether it is creating exciting new competitions like the CONCACAF Champions Cup and CONCACAF W Gold Cup, delivering the region’s first ever confederation-wide coaching framework or supporting all 41 of our federations with capacity building efforts, has been in part because we know this opportunity is coming.”
And the World Cup is just a start, he added. “When the 2026 football fiesta ends, we have to be ready to show fans across the region that CONCACAF has outstanding competitions that they can divert their attention towards—particularly for those new fans for whom the World Cup might be a first taste of the game.”
