We are just a week away from the start of the 2026 World Cup, where 48 nations will vie to lift the iconic Jules Rimet trophy.
Four years on from Qatar, when Argentina were crowned champions for the third time, the 23rd edition of the tournament will take place across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and is destined to attract the attention of sports fans (and traders) everywhere.
As was the case in 2022, numerous national team Fan Tokens™ will be busily traded on exchanges like MEXC during the tournament. Indeed, traders have been positioning themselves in the weeks and months leading up to the event.
Anticipation Building for Blockbuster World Cup
As far back as the turn of the year, the Argentina Fan Token™ ($ARG) saw its value increase by 46.6% in seven days, while the Portugal National Team Fan Token™ ($POR) jumped 56.8%. The Italian National Team Fan Token™ ($ITA) also popped 31.3%, although Italy’s subsequent failure to qualify after a playoff defeat to Bosnia caused the token’s value to plummet.
Just as the digital assets of regular clubs like Barcelona ($BAR) and Paris Saint-Germain ($PSG) react to on-field action, the tokens belonging to national teams do the same. The bigger the game, the more potential for shifts in on-chain sentiment. And it doesn’t get much bigger than a World Cup.
The upcoming tournament, which kicks off on June 11 and ends on July 19, will feature no less than 104 games, and while not all of these events will be traded – since not all teams have digital assets – many will be.
Defending champions Argentina are expected to make a deep run, as are Portugal, and there is also a possibility of Croatia ($VATRENI), who finished in third place in 2022, going far. Interestingly, Croatia’s star player Luke Modrić has his very own token, $MODRIC. This, too, could see increased activity if the nation advances.
How National Team Fan Tokens™ Respond to Big Games
To understand how national team Fan Tokens™ react to big matches, we only need to look at the historic activity centered around key fixtures. Case in point: the 2022 World Cup, wherein 21 matches involved clubs with Fan Tokens™.
Significantly elevated trade volumes were witnessed throughout the tournament, defeats often caused sharp price drops, and victories often (but not always) boosted the spot price of the tokens in question.
When Argentina were upset by Saudi Arabia early in the tournament, the value of the favourite’s token was dented, losing 23% of its value in mere hours. However, Argentina’s victory over France in the final caused a sharp 25.1% rise in the value of $ARG, although it then fell as traders scrambled to take profits.
Between December 9, 2022, when Argentina beat Netherlands on penalties in the quarterfinal, and December 17, the day before the final, the spot price of $ARG rose from $2.64 to $6.36 (+140.9%).
Two major wins (Argentina beat Croatia 3-0 in the semifinal on December 13) caused a huge increase in value as well as trading volume, which rocketed from $1.4M to $47.5M over that eight-day period (+3,292.8%).
The Fan Token™ Ecosystem is Evolving
Of course, the SportFi industry has come a long way since 2022. More national team Fan Tokens™have been launched, the asset class has expanded to other chains, token supply has been linked to match outcomes, and U.S. regulators have opened the door to U.S. team tokens.
Global crypto ownership has also surged in the last four years, from around 425 million at the end of 2022 (when the last World Cup took place) to 560 million today (+31.7%). More crypto users means deeper liquidity and more potential for trading activity during what will be the biggest World Cup to date.
It is worth noting, incidentally, that the 2026 event is likely to be the last to feature Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The fact that the two biggest national team Fan Tokens™, $ARG and $POR, are linked to countries captained by the world’s most iconic footballers is significant. Between them, Messi and Ronaldo have over 1,880 senior goals and 1.1 billion Instagram followers.
In the upcoming tournament, Argentina are drawn in Group J alongside Algeria, Austria, and Jordan, while Portugal occupy Group K with DR Congo, Uzbekistan, and Colombia. Both are heavily tipped to make deep runs, and the higher the stakes get, the more potential there is for sharp Fan Token™ movements in either direction.
All of which is to say that the stage is set for an epic World Cup, on-pitch and on-chain. Players and traders who employ the best strategies will be the ones celebrating come July 19, while those who made ill-judged moves will be left ruing missed opportunities.
About MEXC
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