The 2026 FIFA World Cup opens on June 11. It is the first World Cup since 2018 with no cryptocurrency exchange among the top-tier sponsors. Yet crypto is everywhere at this tournament. It has simply moved down a level.

The story of crypto and football has traced a clear arc over the past few years: from near-absence to hype, collapse, and restabilization. This piece follows that arc, assembling crypto's World Cup and football sponsorships from 2018 to 2026 into one list. All figures are current as of May 28, 2026.

The story has to start before crypto arrived.

The official sponsor roster of the 2018 World Cup in Russia contained no crypto exchange, blockchain company, or token project. All three tiers were filled by traditional, Russian-state, and Chinese brands — Gazprom, Coca-Cola, Visa, Adidas, Wanda, Qatar Airways, Budweiser, McDonald's, Mengniu, Hisense, Vivo [26]. Crypto was essentially absent from that tournament.

What little crypto presence existed in football was confined to scattered club-level experiments. In July 2018, Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers signed a sleeve deal with Polish exchange CoinDeal that the club billed as "the world's first cryptocurrency exchange sports sponsorship" [27]. That September, PSG and Juventus announced partnerships with Socios.com — but the first live fan token (Juventus's $JUV) did not arrive until November 2019 [28]. It was all still at the margins.

The real turn came with the 2021 bull market. Bitcoin reached an all-time high of roughly $68,789 on November 10, 2021, and crypto money flooded into sport [29]. FTX built a sports portfolio in a single year — the Miami Heat, TSM, MLB, UC Berkeley, Mercedes F1. Crypto.com took Formula 1, the UFC, and the Philadelphia 76ers, and renamed Los Angeles's Staples Center to Crypto.com Arena (reportedly $700M over 20 years) [30]. Coinbase went public via a Nasdaq direct listing in April 2021 at a fully diluted market value of about $85.8 billion [31]. By the second half of 2021, crypto sponsors had begun appearing on the shirts of top European clubs.

In other words, Crypto.com's March 2022 sponsorship of the Qatar World Cup was not the start of crypto's move into football. It was the peak of a roughly 14-month sprint.

Crypto sponsorship peaked around the Qatar World Cup.

At FIFA's top tier, FIFA named Crypto.com an Official Sponsor of the Qatar 2022 World Cup on March 22, 2022; the financial terms were not disclosed [1]. Two months later, Algorand became FIFA's official blockchain platform on May 2, 2022, serving as a Regional Supporter for Qatar 2022 in North America and Europe and as an Official Sponsor of the 2023 Women's World Cup, again with undisclosed terms [2].

The club and player tiers were busier still. Inter Milan signed a shirt deal with DigitalBits beginning September 2021, later upgraded to main shirt sponsor, reportedly worth around €85M (roughly $100M) — though neither party ever disclosed the figure [3]. Manchester United signed a training-kit deal with Tezos in February 2022, reportedly worth around £24M per year, also a press estimate rather than an official number [4].

Player endorsements landed densely in the same window. Lionel Messi reportedly signed a three-year ambassador deal with Socios.com worth more than $20M; the deal did not include crypto payments [5]. Cristiano Ronaldo announced an exclusive NFT partnership with Binance on June 23, 2022 [6].

This was crypto's moment at the top table, and the spending was heavy. Few of the seats held.

On November 11, 2022, FTX filed for bankruptcy [7]. This was the turning point of the entire arc.

FTX never held a FIFA-tier deal, but it had built one of the most aggressive sports-sponsorship portfolios in the industry — and it unwound in a chain after the bankruptcy. The Miami Heat's FTX Arena, a 19-year $135M naming-rights deal, was terminated in November 2022 [8]. The MLB umpire patch, a reported five-year deal with undisclosed terms, was first worn at the July 13, 2021 All-Star Game and terminated in November 2022 [9]. The esports organization TSM had a $210M naming deal, suspended in November 2022 [10]. The Mercedes F1 team removed FTX branding before the November 13, 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix [11]. UC Berkeley's $17.5M stadium naming deal was suspended in the same period [12]. Riot Games, in a bankruptcy filing, claimed FTX owed it roughly $90M in remaining contract value [13].

But blaming the collapse on FTX alone misses a more revealing set of facts.

Algorand announced on November 25, 2022 — five days into the Qatar World Cup — that it would no longer activate its Regional Supporter rights for Qatar 2022, refocusing instead on the "technical development" side of the partnership [14]. DigitalBits defaulted on its payments to Inter Milan from 2022; the club announced at its November 2022 shareholders' meeting that it was seeking a new sponsor, and removed the shirt branding in April 2023. Its XDB token reportedly fell from $0.85 in November 2021 to $0.027 in August 2022, a drop of around 97% [15]. Binance signed a five-year deal with the Argentine Football Association in January 2022, then terminated it itself on July 17, 2023, citing the association's failure to fully meet its contractual obligations; the deal was reportedly worth around $8M per year [16].

The real meaning of this set of cases is not that FTX blew up. It is that even non-fraudulent crypto sponsorships failed at an unusually high rate in football. Three companies, three endings, one pattern.

After the collapse, the industry grew more careful, shifting toward regulated, lower-risk partnerships.

Bitpanda became the dominant club partner of the 2025–26 cycle: it signed Bayern Munich in 2024, took over Crypto.com's slot at PSG in January 2025, and added Arsenal in August 2025 [17]. Coinbase signed Borussia Dortmund in August 2022 and renewed in August 2024, extending the deal to Europe and Singapore; in the same period, Coinbase became the official crypto partner of the Aston Martin F1 team, with the deal settled in USDC [18].

FIFA chose to hold the infrastructure itself: on May 22, 2025, it announced a custom Avalanche-based Layer-1 blockchain, migrating its FIFA Collect digital collectibles off Algorand [19].

Crypto.com's Champions League story is a full loop. The 2022 deal, reportedly worth $495M over five years, ultimately fell through (the figure was a SportBusiness estimate, never confirmed by either party) [20]. Two years later, on August 14, 2024, Crypto.com signed a new three-year agreement with UEFA for the 2024–27 cycle, with undisclosed terms [21].

The posture had changed: no longer an all-in bet on the most visible piece of signage, but a move toward distributed, sustainable partnerships that could pass regulatory review.

As of May 28, 2026, three facts describe where crypto sits at this tournament.

First, no cryptocurrency exchange is among the top-tier sponsors. FIFA's seven Tier-1 Partners (Adidas, Coca-Cola, Hyundai-Kia, Visa, Aramco, Lenovo, Qatar Airways) and eight Tier-2 Sponsors (AB InBev, Bank of America, Frito-Lay, McDonald's, Mengniu, Unilever, Verizon, Hisense) contain no crypto exchange [22].

Second, crypto has moved down to the national-team tier. Argentina's national team alone carries more than six crypto and fintech partners — LBank (September 26, 2025, regional partner), Ant International (March 16, 2026, Asia region), Nexo (April 14, 2026, South America / LATAM), and BTCC (April 2, 2026), among others [23]. The South African and Scottish football associations launched fan tokens on May 21, 2026 [24].

Third, FIFA's only crypto-related official partnership is in prediction markets. ADI Predictstreet became FIFA's first Official Prediction Market Partner on April 2, 2026; the company is backed by Abu Dhabi's International Holding Company, holds a license only in Gibraltar, and the deal drew media scrutiny after it was announced [25].

Crypto companies have not left the World Cup. They have moved from the most visible position to a secondary one, from one-off bets to distributed, quiet partnerships. The 2026 list records that change of position.

[1] FIFA, "Crypto.com unveiled as FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Official Sponsor", March 22, 2022. https://inside.fifa.com/en/media-releases/crypto-com-unveiled-as-fifa-world-cup-qatar-2022-tm-official-sponsor

[2] FIFA, "FIFA announces partnership with blockchain innovator Algorand", May 2, 2022. https://inside.fifa.com/organisation/president/media-releases/fifa-announces-partnership-with-blockchain-innovator-algorand

[3] Protos, "Crypto sponsor misses out on Champions League final due to failed payment", May 26, 2023. https://protos.com/crypto-sponsor-misses-out-on-champions-league-final-due-to-failed-payment/

[4] The Sponsor, "What happened to Manchester United's training kit sponsor and why?", July 3, 2025. https://www.thesponsor.com/man-united-training-kit-sponsor-loss/

[5] ESPN, "Lionel Messi signs $20m deal with crypto firm Socios to promote digital fan tokens - report", March 29, 2022. https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/\_/id/37626840/lionel-messi-signs-20m-deal-crypto-firm-socios-promote-digital-fan-tokens-report

[6] PR Newswire, "Binance Signs Cristiano Ronaldo for Exclusive Partnership", June 23, 2022. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/binance-signs-cristiano-ronaldo-for-exclusive-partnership-301573593.html

[7] CNBC, "Sam Bankman-Fried steps down as FTX CEO as his crypto exchange files for bankruptcy", November 11, 2022. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/11/sam-bankman-frieds-cryptocurrency-exchange-ftx-files-for-bankruptcy.html

[8] CoinDesk, "Crypto Exchange FTX Secures Naming Rights for Miami Heat Arena for $135M", March 24, 2021. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2021/03/24/crypto-exchange-ftx-secures-naming-rights-for-miami-heat-arena-for-135m

[9] MLB, "MLB, FTX cryptocurrency exchange partnership", June 23, 2021. https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-ftx-cryptocurrency-exchange-partnership

[10] PR Newswire, "TSM and FTX Sign $210 Million Naming Rights Partnership, Largest in Esports History", June 4, 2021. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tsm-and-ftx-sign-210-million-naming-rights-partnership-largest-in-esports-history-301305740.html

[11] PR Newswire, "FTX and Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team Announce Long-Term Partnership", September 23, 2021. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ftx-and-mercedes-amg-petronas-f1-team-announce-long-term-partnership-301383834.html

[12] Learfield, "Cal Athletics and FTX Unveil 10-Year Landmark Relationship", August 23, 2021. https://www.learfield.com/2021/08/cal-athletics-and-ftx-unveil-10-year-landmark-relationship/

[13] Decrypt, "Here Are the Sports Marketing Deals Crumbling Along With FTX", November 2022. https://decrypt.co/114975/crypto-sports-marketing-deals-crumbling-cancelled-failed-ftx

[14] SportBusiness, "Official blockchain partner Algorand's Fifa sponsorship downgraded to focus on 'technical development'", November 25, 2022. https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/official-blockchain-algorands-fifa-sponsorship-downgraded-to-focus-on-technical-development/

[15] SempreInter, "Value Of Inter Shirt Sponsor DigitalBits Has Dropped 98% In The Last Year, Italian Media Report", August 8, 2022. https://sempreinter.com/2022/08/08/value-of-inter-shirt-sponsor-digitalbits-has-dropped-98-in-the-last-year-italian-media-report/

[16] CoinDesk, "Binance Ends Argentina's Soccer Association Partnership Citing Lack of Compliance", July 17, 2023. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/07/17/binance-ends-argentinas-soccer-association-partnership-citing-lack-of-compliance

[17] Front Office Sports, "The Champions League Is Back. So Is Crypto Sponsorship". https://frontofficesports.com/champions-league-crypto-currency-investment/

[18] Aston Martin F1, "Aston Martin Aramco announces partnership with Coinbase, paid entirely in cryptocurrency", February 13, 2025. https://www.astonmartinf1.com/en-GB/news/announcement/aston-martin-aramco-announces-partnership-with-coinbase

[19] Avalanche, "FIFA Selects Avalanche to Power Its FIFA Blockchain for Football's Web3 Future", May 22, 2025. https://www.avax.network/about/blog/fifa-selects-avalanche-to-power-its-fifa-blockchain-for-footballs-web3

[20] Cointelegraph, "Crypto.com backs out of $495M sponsorship deal with UEFA Champions League: Report". https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-com-backs-out-of-495m-sponsorship-deal-with-uefa-champions-league-report

[21] UEFA, "UEFA and Crypto.com announce UEFA Champions League sponsorship", August 14, 2024. https://www.uefa.com/news-media/news/0290-1b9ba103a2ae-77ecec7c77a2-1000--uefa-and-crypto-com-announce-uefa-champions-league-sponso/

[22] FIFA, "FIFA World Cup 26 Commercial Partnerships". https://www.fifa.com/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/canadamexicousa2026

[23] PR Newswire, "Ant International Becomes Official Sponsor of The Argentine National Football Team", March 16, 2026. https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/ant-international-becomes-official-sponsor-of-the-argentine-national-football-team-302714582.html

[24] South African Football Association, "South African Football Association and Chiliz announce landmark Fan Token™ partnership", May 21, 2026. https://www.safa.net/general-news/south-african-football-association-and-chiliz-announce-landmark-fan-token-partnership/

[25] FIFA, "ADI Predictstreet named official prediction market partner of the FIFA World Cup 2026™", April 2, 2026. https://inside.fifa.com/tournament-organisation/commercial/news/adi-predictstreet-official-prediction-market-partner-fifa-world-cup-2026

[26] CNBC, "World Cup 2018: FIFA looks to the East as it struggles to find sponsors", April 17, 2018. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/17/world-cup-2018-fifa-looks-to-the-east-as-it-struggles-to-find-sponsors.html

[27] Inside World Football, "Chiliz earmarks $50m for launch of Fan Token crypto into US sports market", March 3, 2021. https://www.insideworldfootball.com/2021/03/03/chiliz-earmarks-50m-launch-fan-token-crypto-us-sports-market/

[28] Juventus, "Juventus announce partnership with blockchain platform Socios.com to launch Fan Token", September 24, 2018. https://www.juventus.com/en/news/articles/juventus-announce-partnership-with-blockchain-platform-socios-com-to-launch-fan-

[29] CNBC, "Bitcoin rises to record above $69,000", March 5, 2024 (includes November 2021 all-time-high data). https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/05/bitcoin-all-time-high.html

[30] NBA, "Staples Center to be renamed Crypto.com Arena beginning Dec. 25", November 2021. https://www.nba.com/news/staples-center-to-be-renamed-crypto-com-arena-beginning-december-25

[31] CNBC, "Coinbase stock debuts on Nasdaq in direct listing", April 14, 2021. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/14/coinbase-to-debut-on-nasdaq-in-direct-listing.html