2026 World Cup Sparks a Massive Battle on Supermarket Shelves

One of the biggest winners off the field at the 2026 World Cup is expected to be food and beverage brands. Experts say the tournament will generate billions of dollars in consumption for water, snacks, hamburgers, and functional products.

Scraper SystemJune 15, 2026, 11:04 AM

2026 World Cup Sparks a Massive Battle on Supermarket Shelves

Although the team that will win the 2026 World Cup is not yet known, the real winners will be a bottle of water, a pack of functional snacks, and a hamburger. According to market research firm Numerator, fan spending alone will exceed $7.5 billion. The market includes soft drinks and healthy snacks. With 6.5 million spectators, stadiums will turn into massive dining tables.

Global giants like Coca-Cola see such events as the biggest marketing moments worldwide. The World Cup elevates some brands to stardom while disappointing others. According to Forbes, the 2026 World Cup will add $10.5 billion in revenue to the markets for soft drinks, beer, energy drinks, and other non-alcoholic beverages.

Turkey, which spends millions on gastronomy festivals, will not just sell flour for hamburger buns to the $80 billion World Cup dining market. Experts note that while alcoholic beverages were the most important drinks in past tournaments, changing eating habits, heat waves, hydration, health expectations, and athlete performance goals have made water the unofficial drink of 2026.

One of the key health focuses of the tournament will be maintaining fluid balance for players and fans. Water was the top-selling product on Amazon in 2025 and now looks set to be the star drink of the World Cup. High temperatures, humidity, and long queues present a golden opportunity for water brands. Hamburgers, pizza, and water will be the most consumed items at the World Cup.

In the U.S., the most consumed foods while watching matches are "pizza, hamburgers, chips, and beer." Not only stadiums and fans but also the sports drink market is growing rapidly. The U.S. sports drink market is nearing $30 billion. The World Cup is a massive advertising stage for all brands. Stadiums will energize fans with high-protein snacks and functional drinks.

Drinks that help maintain the body's water balance are expected to sell especially well in cities with intense heat like Dallas and Miami. Brands are running "hydration support" themed ads focusing on the effects of heat. Demand forecasts and stock planning for stadium food sales in many cities have been managed using artificial intelligence.

According to the World Meteorological Organization, temperatures at 14 of the 16 stadiums hosting matches will be above normal. FIFA has announced it has set up additional water points, cooling areas, and water sales infrastructure in stadiums due to the hot weather. Especially in cities like Miami, Dallas, and Houston, where there is a high risk of heat, extraordinary demand for water and sports drinks is expected.

The unseen score of the World Cup is in the fields

Although the 39-day World Cup began with crises such as visa issues for the Iran team and Somali FIFA referee Omar Artan, and heat risks, it has energized the agricultural food ecosystem. Brands have prepared special packages, recipes, and campaigns for the tournament. According to FIFA, the 2026 World Cup will contribute approximately $40.9 billion to the global economy, and according to the World Trade Organization, $80.1 billion.

A significant portion of this will come from media, tourism, accommodation, beverage, and food sectors. FIFA expects 820,000 additional direct and indirect jobs to be created. The World Cup's impact on global GDP will be worth billions of dollars.

According to Saxo Bank's analysis, the World Cup will contribute to a limited growth in global GDP, but this growth will be temporary and not perceptible locally or globally. However, it offers opportunities for major agricultural producing countries. Beyond being the world's largest sports event, the World Cup is a massive food and beverage fair.

Before the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Quaker launched high-protein oat products, protein bars, and protein snacks as part of its "Official Breakfast" sponsorship, while Powerade built its global campaign around hydration and performance-focused functional drinks.

Experts say that as sports nutrition and traditional snack markets rapidly merge, this tournament will see millions of fans consuming not only chips and soft drinks but also protein-enriched snacks, electrolyte drinks, and functional foods. Thus, the World Cup will become a global showcase not only for football but also for the functional food industry.

According to U.S. sports economy data, on match days, individuals spend between $30 and $60 excluding tickets. The World Cup has already started on supermarket shelves. Many official sponsors, including global food giants like Lay's and McDonald's, are trying to capture a share of the tournament with limited edition products. Budweiser describes the World Cup as "the new Super Bowl of beverages."

The 2026 World Cup menu is expected to highlight local identities and flavors alongside functional foods. The global menu of the tournament offers a wide range from local tastes to global flavors. The MetLife Stadium in New York-New Jersey, the final venue, developed a special "Ripper Hot Dog" for the tournament.

This product, prepared with pineapple salsa, potato crisps, and regional recipes, will be sold only during the World Cup. The winner of the World Cup will not be decided only on the field. For 39 days, food will take center stage after every goal celebration. The consumption economy will skyrocket.

Every raised glass, every opened bag of chips, every sold hamburger, and every consumed breakfast product after a goal is the unseen victory of agriculture, food, and global supply chains. The Cup is not only the athletes' but also the countries' gastronomic Olympics.

While East Asia's ramen, Mexico's tacos, Italy's pizza, the U.S.'s hamburger, and Japan's matcha culture find their place on global fan menus, Turkey, with the world's 10th largest agricultural output, is absent from fan menus. This is not just a tournament-specific issue; Turkish gastronomy has yet to create a strong global commercial ecosystem.

Turkey is the world's largest flour exporter, one of the top pasta exporters, a global leader in hazelnuts, and an emerging player in olive oil, yet döner is the success of German expertise, not Turkish cuisine. Simit, which could be a street star, remains outside the league.

Turkish coffee needs innovation, baklava has long lost its identity abroad, ayran was lucky but lost ground in the global market where Chobani's Greek yogurt is a generic brand. Every World Cup creates its own food trends. In 2026, alongside functional foods and local flavors, "sleeping beauties" will awaken.

Good Girl Snacks, a brand known for one of the most creative marketing tactics in recent years called "sleeping flavors," has brought the grandmother's taste of pickles into the Gen Z snack category. With bold branding and creative marketing, it has now become popular among celebrities. Experts believe the rise of "sleeping beauties" like pickles will accelerate at the World Cup; why can't simit succeed?

Being an agricultural country or being on the World Cup menu? Events like the World Cup are not only important for selling products but also for exporting culinary culture. This requires strong brands, effective logistics networks, global distribution channels, and competitive agricultural trade. This is not a victory won by holding gastronomy festivals across Turkey.

It would have been better to invest the budget not in gastronomy festivals where we host ourselves but in World Cup menus seen by billions. Ultimately, the champions of the future will not only be countries that play good football but those that can bring their products, stories, and cuisines to the world's shared table.

While the agricultural food industry struggles with climate shocks, wars, conflicts, input costs, and trade route problems, global sports events add new flavors and discoveries to civilization's memory. The real question is: Is Turkey among these flavors or not? *This content was prepared by freelance journalists or guest writers.

The views and opinions expressed in this content belong to the author and may not reflect the editorial policy of Independent Turkish. Gülbahar Altaş in Bonn: The Kurdish diaspora's new quest from identity to institutionalization

2026 World Cup Sparks a Massive Battle on Supermarket Shelves