Bank of America: The first AI World Cup - Predictions for the winner

The upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup is poised to transcend its status as merely the largest football event ever, evolving into a multifaceted global spectacle encompassing technology, economics, and societal impact. According to a report by Bank of America's Thematic Investing team, the 2026 tournament is expected to generate unprecedented engagement, with projections indicating that approximately 75% of the world's population—around 6 billion people—will interact with the event. This massive scale is set to create significant economic ripples, with FIFA and the WTO estimating that the World Cup could add roughly $41 billion to the global GDP and generate over 800,000 jobs. The United States alone is expected to see around 185,000 new jobs emerge from the event. Sectors such as air travel, tourism, hospitality, sports apparel, social media, streaming platforms, and online betting are anticipated to experience substantial benefits. Notably, the 2026 World Cup is being dubbed the first "AI World Cup," as artificial intelligence is set to be deeply integrated into nearly every aspect of the tournament. Teams will utilize AI systems to analyze vast amounts of data and performance metrics in real-time, while advanced technologies like digital twins of stadiums, autonomous vehicles, and exascale computing systems will also be deployed. The report highlights the increasing shift from traditional television to streaming, mobile devices, and social media, predicting that the World Cup final could account for up to 7% of global internet traffic, a significant increase from the 4-5% observed during the 2022 final. This data-centric approach underscores a fundamental shift, positioning the tournament's data itself as a primary product, with an estimated 90 petabytes of direct tournament data expected—45 times more than in 2022.