The World Cup is down to eight teams, and crypto is having its own tournament moment

Forty-eight national teams showed up to the party. Now eight remain. The 2026 FIFA World Cup, spread across Canada, Mexico, and the United States, reached its quarterfinal stage on July 9, with France, Argentina, Spain, Morocco, Belgium, England, Norway, and Switzerland all surviving the Round of 16 gauntlet that wrapped up July 6-7.

Crypto’s biggest sports integration yet

This World Cup marks the first time cryptocurrency infrastructure has been woven directly into FIFA’s commercial fabric at this scale. Kraken secured the title of Official Crypto Exchange Supporter for North America and Europe, a partnership announced on June 9. FIFA Collect, the governing body’s digital collectibles platform, migrated its operations from the Algorand blockchain to Avalanche. The reason: scalability. When your projected global audience exceeds six billion viewers, you probably want your NFT platform to handle more than a trickle of traffic.

One NFT collection on FIFA Collect sold out in just 24 minutes, raising approximately $115,000. FIFA Collect has also introduced dynamic NFTs, meaning the digital items can change based on real-world match outcomes.

Fan tokens are riding the bracket