You can’t buy a football fan. But you can understand them.

The World Cup is the ultimate stress test for the advertising industry. For one month, the internet will experience unprecedented traffic spikes. Brands will pour billions into digital video, fighting for a fraction of a second in front of a distracted global audience.

The reality? In a crowded timeframe like the World Cup, finding an impression is easy. But what is an impression worth if it doesn’t mean anything? If it doesn’t drive real awareness, it’s just noise.

When the world is watching, reach is easy to find. Real, engaged audiences are not. If your video strategy relies on broad, generic targeting (simply buying the keyword “Football” and hoping for the best), you are missing where the actual value lies.

The myth of the “Broad football fan”.

The biggest mistake brands make during major sporting events is assuming attention is evenly distributed. It isn’t.

Our proprietary data tells a very specific story. Over the 9 months leading up to the tournament (August 2025 – April 2026), we didn’t rely on third-party estimates. Instead, we pulled real-time viewing signals directly from our network of 5 000+ publishers, including sports heavyweights like L’Équipe, Canal+, TF1, and beIN Sports.

Looking at just 43 top players, we processed 224.6 million video views.

What did we find? Attention is aggressively polarized.

A single player – French captain Kylian Mbappé – didn’t just lead the pack; he commanded 57.5 million views, generating more than double the attention of the next highest player. We also see massive, unpredictable spikes driven by the new guard, with rising stars like Spanish phenom Lamine Yamal capturing tens of millions of views, outpacing established veterans.

If you are buying a generic “sports enthusiast” segment, your brand is missing these massive, concentrated spikes in real-time audience intent.

Stop buying placements. Start building audiences.

This granular understanding is what changes the game. We don’t just offer premium environments; we use them to build the most precise, high-value audiences in the market.

Because we power the video infrastructure for thousands of media owners, we capture first-party signals based on actual viewing behavior. We know what these audiences watch, how long they watch it, and what captures their attention, without ever relying on third-party cookies.

Our advertising intelligence engine, Ray, processes these signals to identify the exact moments when fans are actively engaging with World Cup content, tactical breakdowns, and specific player highlights.

Own the living room.

This deep audience understanding allows brands to move beyond static media planning. Through our Audience Path optimization, we enable you to identify true fans and follow them seamlessly across all screens, from mobile discovery to the biggest screen in the house: CTV.

The World Cup is not the time to experiment with blind reach. It’s the time to demand more from your video strategy. By combining real-time signal intelligence with our unified cross-screen activation, we ensure you aren’t just buying ad space. You are owning the audience that matters most.