ATLANTA -- The 2026 FIFA World Cup delivered yet another classic Wednesday, with Argentina scoring twice in the final minutes to stun England 2-1 and advance to the World Cup final. The victory sets up a meeting with Spain on Sunday at N.Y. N.J. Stadium, a match featuring two of the world’s most recognizable sports stars: 39-year-old Lionel Messi and 19-year-old Lamine Yamal.
The matchup is a marketer’s dream, as evidenced by the robust lineup of brands featuring the two players in World Cup-related campaigns. Messi has worked with Adidas, Michelob Ultra, Lay’s, Mastercard, Duracell and Lowe’s, while Yamal has represented Adidas, Visa, Powerade, McDonald’s and American Eagle.
EMW Global founder & CEO Michael Rocha-Keys told SBJ before Wednesday’s match that the star power of Messi and Yamal has helped his agency secure commercial partnerships for the Argentine and Spanish federations in distant markets such as China. Among those deals is a deal between the Spanish federation and Chinese kitchen appliance brand Vatti, which has promised to reimburse customers for all purchases made during the tournament if Spain wins, just as it did in 2018 when it partnered with the French federation.
Wednesday’s semifinal clash inside Atlanta Stadium had all the intensity of a championship match. Argentina fans outnumbered their English counterparts roughly 3-to-1 among the sellout crowd of 68,239, Atlanta’s sixth consecutive full house to cap its run of eight World Cup games.
Argentine supporters were loud enough to drown out the English national anthem before the match, something veteran Atlanta soccer journalist Doug Roberson said he had never witnessed at the venue. Thousands remained in the stadium for more than half an hour afterward, celebrating with Messi and his teammates.
Beyond the stadium, Atlanta made a strong case as a host of major global sporting events. Its compact downtown footprint allowed visiting fans to easily walk among hotels, restaurants, the FIFA Fan Festival at Centennial Olympic Park and the stadium.
The Atlanta World Cup Host Committee hosted several hundred guests before and after the match at ATL House, a pop-up hospitality space at The CTR, while FIFA and On Location used State Farm Arena for pregame hospitality. With the Centennial Yards mixed-use development beginning to come online, the city offers a campus-like feel that few other U.S. cities can match.
“When you have a campus like we do where everything is connected — the proximity, the walkability, and it’s organized by people and organizations that have been doing it for a long time and just know how to work well together — that’s an incredible combination,” said Atlanta Sports Council President Dan Corso.
Atlanta is one of 14 U.S. markets identified as proposed host sites in the joint bid for the 2031 Women’s World Cup. After this summer, it’s easy to imagine the city receiving serious consideration to host the final.
