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New ROS Research LLC study shows global opinions on the World Cup and the top players.
Santa Monica, CA, Jun 17, 2026 — ROS Research LLC, a leading primary research firm, released today findings from its international Pre World Cup Assessment study on the market’s attitudes and opinions about soccer and the sport’s major stars. This study was fielded from May 26 to June 11, 2026, with almost 2,000 respondents across the US, Latin America, and Europe.
While the World Cup is arguably the most important athletic competition in the world, soccer’s worldwide popularity seems to have eroded, as many international fans are embracing purely American sports like basketball and baseball.
Team preferences and final winner expectations closely mirrored each other as Spain was the country with the largest fanbase (35% of all respondents) and the one with the highest expectation to win the 2026 World Cup. Conversely, while the U.S. Men’s National Team appears to have developed a level of support comparable to that of traditional soccer powers, much of this enthusiasm seems to be driven by domestic optimism. This is reflected in World Cup expectations: nearly one-third of American fans believe the United States can win the tournament, whereas fewer than 5% of fans in Europe and Latin America share that view.
Most of the attributes associated with the sport’s top stars are positive and highlight the dedication, talent and effort that it takes to become an elite athlete. With 40% of total mentions, “talented” was the top adjective used to refer to the game’s top players, followed by “leader” and “disciplined”. Negative attributes like “rude”, divisive, and “unsportsmanlike” mentions were negligible, as less than 7% of surveyed respondents associated any of these attributes with any player.
The GOAT conversation between Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina’s Lionel Messi still rages on and is far from settled. In fact, results indicate that they can both claim the GOAT title, albeit for different reasons. While the differences were not statistically significant, Cristiano Ronaldo scored slightly higher on attributes related to talent and determination, whereas Messi was viewed more favorably in terms of influence and long-term legacy.
In terms of sponsorship opportunities, it was clear that all of these athletes were highly marketable and could provide successful partnerships. However, their appeal appears to be concentrated within sports-related categories, as respondents showed considerably less interest in seeing these athletes endorse products and services outside the sporting goods sector.
The ROS Research LLC Pre World Cup Assessment study surveyed almost 2,000 sports enthusiasts from the United States, Latin America, and Europe to gage their opinions about sports in general and 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 May 26 to June 11, 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.
