England and Croatia will renew one of international football’s most compelling recent rivalries on June 17 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Group L opener, set for 4 p.m. ET, lands at a moment when crypto’s footprint inside the world’s biggest sporting event has never been larger.
Eight days before kickoff, Kraken was announced as FIFA’s first official crypto exchange supporter. That deal is the clearest signal yet that digital assets have graduated from stadium-banner sponsorships to structural partnerships with the governing bodies that run global sport.
The match: what’s at stake on the pitch
This is the expanded 48-team World Cup’s first cycle, running from June 11 through July 19 across venues in the US, Canada, and Mexico.
England and Croatia have recent history worth remembering. Croatia knocked England out in the 2018 World Cup semifinals in Moscow. England returned the favor at Euro 2020, grinding out a 1-0 group-stage win.
