Key takeaways
• The World Cup has an almost incomparable ability to unite people through emotion. The tournament creates shared moments of joy, heartbreak, and inspiration that transcend borders, languages, and generations.
• Great communication is built on authentic storytelling and cultural understanding. The lessons of the World Cup show that audiences connect most strongly with human experiences, meaningful narratives, and messages tailored to different communities.
• Success and reputation are built through resilience, patience, and adaptability. Just as football repeatedly defies predictions, organisations must embrace uncertainty, stay consistent, and focus on creating stories that endure.
Every four years, the world’s most popular sporting event captures global attention. It draws billions to television screens, fills bars and pubs, and sends devoted supporters across continents in pursuit of irreplicable moments that can define a generation. Children discover new heroes to imitate in playgrounds, while grown men and women cry in public.
Few cultural events unite the world quite like the FIFA World Cup. Nations from Europe, Africa, Asia, and North and South America compete on the same stage, introducing audiences to different cultures, customs, and traditions, and personalities, identities, and quirks. For a few weeks, football dominates the global conversation even more so than usual, with stories on and off the pitch transcending borders and languages and relegating headlines around topics such as geopolitics down the frontpage.
In 2030, the World Cup will celebrate its centenary. Over the course of its century-long history, every tournament has produced predictions, expectations, and favourites, only for the game itself to repeatedly defy them. Football has always found a way to humble those who believe they can predict it.
That unpredictability is nothing new. Consider the decisive match of the 1950 World Cup between Brazil and Uruguay. In front of an estimated 200,000 supporters at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil entered the match as overwhelming favourites. A draw would have been enough to secure their first Jules Rimet trophy, and few inside the stadium expected anything other than celebration. Instead, Uruguay’s 2-1 victory created one of the greatest shocks in World Cup history, leaving a wound that would linger for generations.
A good number of those who witnessed that heartbreak would still be alive more than six decades later to pass the story on to their grandchildren, just as another devastating defeat unfolded in Belo Horizonte, when Brazil suffered a 7-1 humiliation against Germany. This was not just any footballing nation we are talking about. This was the most successful country in World Cup history. Brazil remains the only nation to have lifted the trophy five times.
The stories that endure are rarely the ones we expect. That is because the World Cup is a masterclass in organic storytelling, driven by the power of shared and generational experience, and the expectation of the unexpected.
Beyond the pitch
My university professor once told me, “If you can talk about sport and cinema, you can hold a conversation with almost anybody.”
Football often becomes both. It is entertainment, drama and, perhaps most importantly, a universal language. Its influence stretches well beyond the ninety+ minutes on the pitch or the hours of television coverage watched in living rooms around the globe.
Show a child Marco Tardelli’s iconic celebration after scoring for Italy against West Germany in the 1982 World Cup final and you won’t need to tell them, “This is joy.” Show them the devastation on the faces of Ghana’s players after their penalty shootout defeat to Uruguay in 2010 and no explanation of heartbreak is required. Neither moment requires translation. A last-minute winner, an underdog triumph, or an emotional celebration is understood instantly, regardless of nationality or native language.
For communicators, the lesson is that people remember how something made them feel far longer than they remember the facts alone. Whether launching a campaign, announcing news, or building a reputation, emotional resonance matters. Audiences connect with stories that reflect genuine human experience rather than corporate messaging. The communications that endure are those that evoke excitement, hope, pride, or empathy.
Culture matters
One of the World Cup’s greatest strengths is its celebration of diversity. Every participating nation arrives with its own traditions, customs, and ways of celebrating success.
Norway’s now-famous ‘Viking Row’ celebration became one of the 2026 edition’s defining images, while Cabo Verde’s unexpected emergence captured imaginations, helped by the performances of Dublin-born Pico Lopes, the Shamrock Rovers defender representing this tournament’s darlings. Yet the two stories symbolise contrasting resonance. Norway leaned into tradition and national identity; Cape Verde showcased the strength of its global diaspora.
For organisations communicating across multiple markets, the lesson is equally valuable; that there is rarely a one-size-fits-all approach. Successful international communications require cultural intelligence. What resonates in Tokyo will likely not have the same impact in Tunis or Tashkent. Tone, humour, imagery, symbolism, and even colour can carry different meanings depending on the audience.
Storytelling always wins
Every World Cup produces unforgettable stories. There are underdogs who exceed expectations, legendary players chasing history, emerging talents announcing themselves on the biggest stage, and entire nations rallying behind teams despite overwhelming odds. While the results eventually fade, the stories remain.
Public relations follow the same principle. Audiences remember the overcoming challenges, the positive difference-makers, and individuals and products that drive meaningful change. Great communications are never simply about generating headlines. They are about identifying stories worth telling and presenting them in ways that connect emotionally and authentically.
Patience and perspective
The World Cup demonstrates just how interconnected the modern world has become. A single moment can trend globally within seconds, generating millions of reactions across multiple platforms. But the World Cup is also a reminder that reputations are rarely built overnight.
French superstar Kylian Mbappé won the World Cup at the first time of asking in 2018, before even leaving his teens. By contrast, Lionel Messi, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, needed five tournaments before finally lifting the trophy. Then there’s Lucien Laurent, the Frenchman who scored the first goal in World Cup history in 1930. He had to wait another 68 years to see, as a supporter, his country crowned world champions, by which point he was the last surviving member of that inaugural squad.
It’s a reminder that hard work and commitment don’t always bring immediate rewards. Sometimes you achieve your goal at the first attempt; more often, success takes time and sometimes upon the foundations you have built for others. Consistency, resilience, and patience are what ultimately make the difference.
Each World Cup is a first for many players and spectators. For others, it is their last. Some nations, such as Germany or Brazil in 2026 have disappointing tournaments they would rather forget. Others, like Morocco or Norway after historic campaigns, that they will remember forever.
The beauty of the World Cup lies in its unpredictability. Every tournament writes stories nobody could have scripted. But what unites is authenticity, empathy, and human connection. And they are always bedrocks we can find sure footing on.
Jack Porter
Account Manager
About the author
Jack is an account manager based in London, UK, who joined SE10 in 2022, assisting with media coverage and campaign management for European accounts. Arriving from a background in sports writing and video content production, thoughtfulness and consideration in presentation, and networking and building strong client relationships are key skills that have transitioned easily into PR. Jack has extensive experience in interviewing knowledgeable subjects and conveying received information to a wider readership in an understandable, relatable tone.
