More Than Football: Why we all need a World Cup right now
Every Men’s World Cup arrives with familiar conversations about favourites, form, and whether England's men might finally bring it home. Yet when we asked a nationally representative sample of 1,000 UK adults about the upcoming tournament, the most interesting story wasn't really about football at all.
Football's biggest tournament now attracts far more than football fans
We increasingly consume different media, follow different interests and live in personalised worlds shaped by algorithms and individual preferences. Shared cultural moments have become surprisingly rare. So perhaps it's not surprising that more than eight in ten UK adults (83%) plan to follow the tournament in some way, despite fewer than half of those followers describing themselves as passionate football fans who follow the sport regularly throughout the year.
The World Cup audience is almost twice the size of football's core fan base, suggesting millions of people are engaging for reasons that extend beyond the sport itself. With each major tournament, football becomes one of the few genuinely shared national experiences left in modern life; one of the few occasions where huge numbers of people are paying attention to the same thing, at the same time.
Of course, many people are there for the football. Supporting a national team and following the sport itself remain the two biggest motivations for engagement. Yet the data suggests a sizeable group is showing up for something else entirely.
More than 80 Wembley Stadiums' worth of people are here for the atmosphere
14% of UK adults say they engage with the World Cup primarily because of the atmosphere, the shared experience or the way it brings people together. At first glance that may sound like a relatively small group. But it represents around 7.5 million people, equivalent to filling Wembley Stadium more than 80 times over.
These are not people obsessing over tactics, formations or injury updates. They're there for the conversations at work the next morning, the gathering in the pub, the family barbecue, the sweepstakes, the collective highs and lows, and the feeling of being part of something larger than themselves.
The World Cup has become one of the few moments capable of creating that kind of collective experience at scale. For millions of people, the football is part of the attraction, but it isn't necessarily the reason they turn up.
Women are broadening the appeal of the World Cup
The role women are playing in creating a buzz around the World Cup is interesting. While women are slightly less likely than men to be football-focused, almost eight in ten plan to follow the tournament. More importantly, they are significantly more likely to engage for social and community reasons. Men tend to arrive through the football, whilst women are more likely to arrive through the occasion.
This shift also feels consistent with the wider momentum behind women's football. As the Lionesses have captured the nation's attention and women's football has become increasingly embedded within mainstream sporting culture, football itself has become more inclusive, more accessible and, arguably, more culturally relevant to a broader audience.
Gen Z aren't just casual observers: they're the tournament's most engaged generation
A similar pattern emerges across generations. While adults aged 55 and over are the most likely to be motivated by supporting their national team and the most likely to watch matches alone, younger audiences are approaching the tournament differently.
Among those aged 25–34, more than half (52%) say social gatherings with friends and family are a key reason they engage, while 45% cite the atmosphere and shared experience. They are also significantly more likely to enjoy the opportunity to watch and talk about something different for a few weeks.
That helps explain why more than nine in ten Gen Z adults plan to follow the tournament, making them the most engaged generation in our study. For younger audiences, the World Cup is as much a cultural moment as a sporting one. They are less likely to define their engagement through national allegiance alone and more likely to value the atmosphere, conversations and shared experiences that surround the tournament.
Younger generations might arrive for the atmosphere, but they are staying for the result
Perhaps most surprising is what we see when we look beyond participation and into expectations. There is a tendency to assume younger audiences are more casual supporters, attracted by the atmosphere but less emotionally invested in the outcome. However, the data suggests something rather different.
Millennials and Gen Z emerge as the tournament's biggest believers. Around half think the team they are supporting can reach the final, compared with just one in five Baby Boomers. Millennials are the most optimistic generation overall, with 81% believing their team can reach at least the semi-finals, compared with 42% of Baby Boomers.
For a nation famous for managing expectations when it comes to football, that's a striking trend. The optimism gap between generations is remarkable. Millennials and Gen Z are more than twice as likely as Baby Boomers to believe the team they support can make the final.
Perhaps the success of the Lionesses, and the continued momentum behind women's football more broadly, has something to do with it. In our research, 39% of UK adults told us the Lionesses have raised their expectations of England's men's team, believing the Lionesses have shown what is possible for England teams on the biggest stage.
Younger generations have grown up seeing England teams compete and succeed in a way that previous generations simply haven't. The possibility of success feels more tangible now, and that appears to be shaping expectations ahead of this tournament.
Importantly, that optimism is matched by emotional investment. More than a third of Gen Z supporters say they would be devastated, or that the tournament would lose much of its appeal, if their team were eliminated.
What makes that particularly interesting is that Gen Z are no more likely than older generations to shrug and move on. In fact, levels of emotional investment are remarkably consistent across age groups. Around a third of supporters in every generation say the tournament would lose much of its appeal if their team exited.
That challenges the idea that younger audiences are simply ‘here for the beer’. They may be drawn to the tournament by different things, whether that's the atmosphere, the social experience or the cultural moment, but once they arrive they care just as much about the outcome.
Younger generations appear significantly more willing to believe that something good might happen, without being any less emotionally invested if it doesn't.
The World Cup matters even when your team doesn't win
That distinction becomes even clearer when we look at the broader picture. While some supporters would lose interest if their team exited, almost two-thirds would continue watching regardless, whether that's following the biggest matches, adopting another team or simply enjoying the tournament for what it is.
For many people, the team is part of the experience, but it isn't the whole experience. The tournament itself has become the attraction. The stories, the drama, the shared moments and the collective conversations have a value that extends beyond the fortunes of any one nation.
That may be one of the clearest signs that the World Cup has become something bigger than a sporting competition. It is now a cultural event that people want to be part of, regardless of the scoreboard.
In an increasingly fragmented world, shared moments still matter
Perhaps that's why conversations about things like the introduction of a Super Bowl-style half-time show miss the bigger point. While traditionalists may question whether it belongs in football, most UK adults appear relatively comfortable with the idea. Half say it is either a nice addition or brings fresh energy to the tournament, while a further 23% see it as unnecessary but harmless.
With that context, the halftime show feels less like a radical US departure or Americanisation, and more like a reflection of what the World Cup has become, designed to bring together audiences with very different reasons for tuning in.
The football matters. The competition matters. But our research suggests that what many people value most is the opportunity to participate in a shared experience that cuts across age, gender, interests and backgrounds.
At a time when the headlines are rarely short of economic pressure, geopolitical tension or social division, there is something valuable in that.
Perhaps that explains why the World Cup continues to attract so many people who wouldn't normally describe themselves as football fans. They're turning up because football gives us a reason to come together, a reason to hope and a reason to believe that the best outcome might still be ahead of us.
The World Cup may be one of the few remaining occasions where millions of people still allow themselves to believe that something good might happen.
And that may be exactly why we all need a World Cup right now.
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