Fifa World Cup 2026 Pre Tournament Assessment
Jun 11, 2026
New ROS Research LLC study shows fan satisfaction and opinions on the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
SANTA MONICA, August 6, 2026 — ROS Research LLC, a leading primary research firm, released today findings from its international 2026 FIFA World Cup Fan Satisfaction Assessment study on satisfaction and opinions about the latest iteration of the tournament. This study was fielded from July 20 to July 27, 2026, with almost 1,000 respondents across the US, Latin America, and Europe.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup delivered an experience that largely met fans’ expectations, with nearly 90% of respondents reporting a high level of satisfaction regardless of their region or whether they attended matches in person or watched on television. Performance met or exceeded expectations across most aspects of the tournament, with only four areas identified as priorities for improvement: the volume of advertising, the quality of advertising, recent rule changes, and the cost of official memorabilia. In contrast, fan festivals and other ancillary events had little influence on overall satisfaction, suggesting they were of relatively low importance to the fan experience.
Despite the overall consistency in the results, European fans proved to be the most difficult audience to satisfy. Across most of the attributes evaluated, they consistently rated the tournament significantly lower than their US and Latin American counterparts.
Despite some shortcomings across certain aspects of the tournament, the event appears to have strengthened fans’ passion for the sport, as reflected in their high levels of intended engagement following the competition.
Lastly, the debate on who was the best player in the tournament and in the history of the sport seems to have been settled. Lionel Messi was considered the best player of the tournament by a third of all fans. Kylian Mbappé came in a distant second place with 18% of total mentions. Messi also dominated the discussion of the greatest player of all time (“GOAT”), with 39% of all mentions. On the other hand, Cristiano Ronaldo and Pelé were statistically tied for second place while Diego Maradona and Ronaldo Nazario (“Ronlado”/ “O fenômeno”) vied for a distant third place.
Although respondents broadly agreed that the sport’s greatest players share exceptional talent, Messi distinguished himself through his leadership, unparalleled accomplishments, and the respect he has earned throughout his career. These qualities ultimately set him apart from other legendary figures of the game, including Zinedine Zidane, Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff, and many others.
The ROS Research LLC 2026 FIFA World Cup Fan Satisfaction Assessment study surveyed almost 1,000 FIFA World Cup fans from the United States, Latin America, and Europe to probe their satisfaction with the latest edition of the FIFA World Cup. Respondents were members of our proprietary takemyviews.com panel and were invited via email to participate in this survey. Interviews were conducted from July 20 to July 27, 2026.
ROS Research LLC is a primary research firm dedicated to delivering original, data-driven intelligence on the topics that matter most to today’s businesses. Unlike firms that rely on secondary sources, ROS Research LLC generates insights directly from the people who matter — professionals, patients, physicians, and decision-makers across industries. For more information, visit rosresearch.com.
