The hidden social network connecting World Cup fans

TikTok, Instagram and Facebook were once the go-to digital platforms where global soccer fans would share memes, connect with other fans, vent about gameday wins and losses during The World Cup. 

But public sharing has now gone private — meaning brands need to reassess their focus on World Cup social trends rather than private sharing trends. 

WhatsApp chats and private communities are becoming some of the most important second screen environments during the World Cup, acting as one of the primary channels for the 87% of fans who use a second screen while watching sports.

FIFA's official WhatsApp channel has already built an audience of over 4.4 million followers. And many brands are following suit with their own exclusive WhatsApp channels. 

In this post, I explore the world of WhatsApp group chats and private communities and take a look at how both private and branded channels are building anticipation and uniting fans during the World Cup.

Here’s why WhatsApp has become one of the biggest digital channels shaping sports fan behavior during this year’s World Cup.  

Private sharing is reshaping sports conversation

Personal WhatsApp conversations, from group chats with friends to local team hubs, reflect a shift from public to private content sharing during the World Cup.

Public posting causes context collapse, meaning consumers are limited in self-expression due to anxiety around how social circles, including coworkers, family, acquaintances, will react to the content and opinions they post. WhatsApp provides a secure, end-to-end encrypted space that allows consumers to control exactly who sees their content and commentary – allowing for more freedom of expression. In comparison to sharing a post on Instagram or TikTok, WhatsApp also gives users a greater sense of control. 

The popular messaging platform delivers a secure, end-to-end encrypted space where they can share with trusted friends, family or other local and global soccer fans. This comfort and passion turns group chats into mini communities — giving fans a safe space to share memes, inside jokes, reactions and commentary. 

WhatsApp essentially provides another second screen channel: a digital space where fans can express their reactions and emotions connected to the game and engage with others in real time as they watch broadcasts and engage with other soccer-related media. Second screen behavior defines audiences movement between television broadcasts, the social media and mobile — allowing them to simultaneously jump between highlights, reactions and commentary both inside and out of the WhatsApp chat.

Jon Stona, Vice President, of Global Marketing at Airwallex, says: "Live sports is no longer a “single-screen, appointment-viewing experience. The ‘second screen’ has effectively become the primary engagement layer for many fans, especially younger audiences."

Watch parties have gone digital

Digital watch parties are replacing many in-person watch parties, allowing family and friends to connect and share in the gameday buzz without the barriers of logistics or location. WhatsApp watch parties allow fans to connect across locations and timezones and share real-time commentary and reactions — supporting the platform to function as a live commentary layer during games. 

WhatsApp provides immediacy. Real-time reactions give fans immediate hits of dopamine, driving continuous engagement throughout the game. Fans get to share and experience other fans’ reactions to the highs and lows of the games, from goals to controversial rep callouts — intensifying the tournament experience. The intensification of the gameday experience may explain why 41% of sports fans say they’re more engaged with sports content on WhatsApp than they were just a year ago. 

Private engagement often spreads faster than public posts

Private engagement is often far higher in private group chats than it is across socials. Viral content often starts in private sharing environments. Many memes, witty in-jokes and interesting commentary or tournament reflections start and accelerate in private group chats — with content shareability overtaking traditional engagement metrics.

Unlike other channels, fans expect content to meet three core needs: immediacy, personalization and accessibility no matter the channel. WhatsApp meets all three of these criterias — making it one of the most engaging channels for soccer fans watching the match.

As a brand, how do you ace WhatsApp marketing with your content and campaign strategies? World Cup digital engagement across WhatsApp relies on three core principles: 

1. Forwardable, authentic content

2. Community and belonging

3. Real-time reactive marketing

Content designed for forwarding

When it comes to the World Cup, fans are looking for quick hits of validation, from frustrations around a red card to responding to iconic fan moments: a good meme can be forwarded 10 times over. Some of the most popular content formats include: memes, reaction images and short videos. Daisy Huang, head of strategy at Omnicom Media Singapore, says: 

"Sports consumption today, especially around major moments such as the FIFA World Cup, is no longer just about watching the match itself, it is about participating in wider cultural conversations. Gen Z audiences increasingly experience sport through memes, creators, online communities and short-form content, with social platforms playing just as important a role as live broadcasts in shaping fandom."

Iconic World Cup moments often enter the cultural lexicon. WhatsApp channels give fans instant access to each games’ most memorable moments and allows them to relive them once the tournament ends. Short-form videos, memes, and reaction clips travel fast throughout fans’ WhatsApp chats, letting fans enjoy the highs and lows of every match through the eyes of other supporters and commentators. This type of content is easy to view, forward and save, meaning a single memorable moment can circulate through group chats for hours after the game has ended.

Emotion-driven, humorous formats highlight the slide towards authentic, engaging and often fan-made content outperforming polished, glossy ads across WhatsApp and other channels. Categorized as “low-fi” (low-fidelity) content, 60% of consumers say that authentic and relatable content is more important than polished, high-quality content. 

Drew Ridley at Marketing Mag shares, "Lo-fi is the opposite of stylized, glossy, fully edited, high-spec high-fidelity (hi-fi) content. Lo-fi content is what audiences want and it works."

Real-time reactive marketing

Successful brands act first, delivering lo-fi authentic content that reacts in real-time to goals, upsets, losses and controversial moments. The faster you respond to the biggest moments of each match, the more time your content has to circulate and the greater potential it has to go viral.

Oreo's social media team posted their reactive Dunk in the Dark tweet within minutes of an unplanned Super Bowl blackout. This fast response racked up 525M earned media impressions. 

To react quickly, it’s essential to build out match-specific content strategies. Map out your content, how will you digitally react to goals, shock exits or memorable crowd reactions? Have your lo-fi content mix ready to go with a selection of instantly-uploadable GIFs, comments and branded links. 

Pull back the layers of hierarchy and multi-layer approval chains during live games. Make sure you have a team of talented social media marketers who can react quickly, wittily and strategically to key moments of the tournament. 

Community and group identity

National pride and regional fandom are a defining aspect of the World Cup. From Mexico to Argentina, healthy cross-regional rivalry and deep national identity give the tournament its unique emotional charge. By mimicking the intimacy of in-person hangouts and conversations with family and friends, WhatsApp strengthens the joy and sense of shared identity surrounding the game.

The sense of celebrated in-group belonging among local fans and across friendship groups is often intensified by gameday rituals: pre-game selfies in team jerseys, a run-through of gameday snacks, in-sync emoji storms, and emotional voice notes that pull fans into the same virtual living room.

Shared viewing experiences build further momentum as friends, family, and colleagues heighten the emotional experience of each game with a synchronized flurry of voice notes, memes, and videos from kickoff to final whistle.

Let’s review the biggest shifts behind WhatsApp watch parties. 

Brands can no longer measure culture only through public metrics

During live events, forwards and shares carry more weight as social capital and cultural signals than likes and comments on public social media. While likes and comments are often mindless, split-second reactions as fans scroll their feeds, forwarding or sharing content inside a private channel requires deliberate, intentional effort — making it a far stronger signal of genuine engagement. 

High emotion, immediate reactions, and low friction combine to give forwards and shares inside WhatsApp a velocity that public social media can’t match.

"Your social content is likely doing more pipeline work than your attribution model gives it credit for."

- Alina Dallal, Oktopost

Private shares and forwards often hold huge social weight. In 2025, a mid-sized music festival drove 30% of ticket sales from untracked direct traffic after their lineup went viral in private Telegram and iMessage groups, showing how fast content can go viral and outperform content shared via social media. 

Dark social is responsible for up to 84% of all referral traffic, but it can provide a challenge for visibility. An experiment ran in 2024 found that 100% of clicks from private messaging apps like WhatsApp, Discord and Slack registered as direct traffic without a source in Google Analytics. 

Messaging apps are becoming entertainment platforms

WhatsApp serves as a real-time media environment. WhatsApp users share over 150 billion messages with one another every day. 41–57.5% of total message volume can be attributed to group chats, which contain an average of 27 members. This level of intimacy, reach and immediacy is hard to replicate on a public channel. 

WhatsApp has replaced a lot of what live Twitter behavior used to look like. Where fans once headed to social media to react to the highs and lows of the tournament, they now head to WhatsApp to share their joys and frustrations in real time — jokes, comments, videos, and memes flying around group chats from kickoff to final whistle.

Not all fans rely on broadcasts for their World Cup content either. Messaging channels now deliver highlights, memes, clips, commentary and running banter — giving fans the most essential snapshots of the game without having to sit through 90 minutes of soccer.

This makes WhatsApp a great fit for casual fans who just want to know about the biggest moments, results, and storylines. But it works just as well for hardcore soccer fans who want to instantly share their thoughts on the game, debate every decision, and get breaking news from sports journalists, FIFA, and their favourite team the moment it drops.

Some brands have an immediate advantage when it comes to marketing in the WhatsApp era. From meme-worthy high-impact packaging to market niches that heavily lean into irreverent authentic marketing, these are the brands with the marketing edge during the World Cup. 

Beverage and snack brands

Snacks and drinks are an essential part of the gameday equation. This means that many fans already have a natural connection between their favorite snack and beverage brands and the World Cup. While the bold packaging and playful marketing on many beverage and snack food brands lends itself well to memefication and visually high-impact authentic content. 

Many beverage and snack brands have built strong WhatsApp campaign strategies around digital watch parties. Lay's is the official snack sponsor of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and their "No Lay's, No Game" campaign is a good example of this in action. The campaign is built around a dedicated WhatsApp channel that serves as a digital watch party hub for fans throughout the tournament.

The channel features promotional shorts, non-scripted authentic videos (no AI use here), voice notes and messages, as well as exclusive behind-the-scenes content from brand ambassadors Lionel Messi, David Beckham, Steve Carell and Alexia Putellas. Fans also get access to brand perks like product giveaways, digital activities, custom soccer memes and one-of-a-kind tournament recipes ideas. Over 4 million fans have already joined the chat. 

When it comes to alcohol brands activating around the World Cup, Absolut Vodka's "The Doorman" campaign invites fans to get past an imaginary WhatsApp bouncer named Sven to win VIP launch party tickets. To crack Sven, fans threw everything at him — serenades, dramatic monologues, custom artwork and witty video pitches. He didn't make it easy, pushing back and shutting the digital door on most attempts.

Telecom and technology brands

Telecom brands have a one up over many brands during the World Cup. WhatsApp brought in over $1.785 billion in direct API revenue in 2024, reflecting brands’ recognition of the hold the platform has over fans.

Fans rely on the data and devices telecom brands provide to set up watch parties and connect with friends in WhatsApp group chats during games — giving these brands a natural claim on connectivity as a watch party essential.

Real-time engagement campaigns build on this identity, positioning telecom brands as central to the digital World Cup experience. By sending instant messages tailored to key moments — a last-minute winner, a shock upset, a penalty shootout — brands can tap directly into the emotional highs and lows of the tournament as they happen.

With 104 matches streaming and broadcasting across 16 North American host cities to a global audience of billions, connectivity is the core value proposition telecom and broadcast brands should be leaning into. Verizon is already doing exactly that as the Official Telecommunication Services Sponsor of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino says: "Football unites the world, and to unite the world we need to ensure that everyone is connected. Verizon is joining us on this journey to make football truly global, and will create the network that brings fans, players, partners and media alike together in 2026. We believe in the power of unity and, together, we’re excited about how Verizon’s involvement in these two groundbreaking tournaments can help grow the global game.”

Sports and entertainment brands

Sports and entertainment brands are another natural tie to the World Cup. The most effective campaigns will lead with reactionary content and live updates alongside campaign messaging and content that is emotion led. Fans want live updates, behind-the-scenes creator and athlete conversations and exclusive insights into the tournament and each match. 

Clip culture and shareability will also reign. Nike's "Rip the Script" campaign is a great example of this. The campaign is built around a six-minute film featuring over 30 soccer stars that connects to a wider campaign with phased athlete reveals, creator collaborations and product stories that spans the entire tournament. These bitesized shareable pieces of content keep fans buzzing across their private group chats. 

Adidas turned the iconic Trionda — the official tournament match ball — into a WhatsApp emoji that fans can share in messages throughout the World Cup, with the soccer ball on the platform automatically updating to the branded Trionda every time fans hit the emoji on their phone.

WhatsApp has become the center of many fans' digital World Cup experience, from exclusive content to intimate group chats — WhatsApp delivers exclusivity, immediacy and connection. Replacing many fans' social media platforms of choice, WhatsApp allows fans to freely express themselves with friends, family and global fans and many brands are taking note. 

There’s a real opportunity here for both unofficial and official World Cup sponsors to make a splash, one certainly worth looking into as the tournament kicks off and the real-time interactions begin.