FIFA’s decision to partner with Avalanche for ticketing and digital collectibles, combined with Kraken’s appointment as the tournament’s first official cryptocurrency exchange partner announced on June 9, 2026, has turned this World Cup into the most crypto-native sporting event in history. Every goal scored by a marquee name is now a catalyst for trading activity across NFTs, fan tokens, and, inevitably, meme coins.
Star power meets token economics
Messi’s relationship with crypto predates this tournament by years. He signed a deal worth over $20M with Socios.com in 2022 to promote fan tokens ahead of the Qatar World Cup. He also holds an equity stake in Sorare, the Ethereum-based NFT fantasy football platform.
Mbappé has his own Sorare connection. When his partnership with the platform was announced in 2022, NFT sales on Sorare surged 795% within 24 hours.
Haaland’s digital presence is equally striking. NFTs associated with the Norwegian striker have traded for over 265 ETH, translating to roughly $600K to $750K depending on the day.
