Score with WhatsApp: Your Enterprise Playbook for Football’s Biggest Stage

Every four years, the world unites around football. June and July this year will see the beautiful game’s biggest stage unfold across North America, captivating billions of fans who will be watching, cheering, debating, plus—crucially for brands—engaging and buying.

But here’s what leading enterprises already understand: the real action isn’t just on the pitch. It’s happening in the group chats, family threads, and millions of WhatsApp conversations where fans connect during every match.

25 million messages per second. That’s the peak WhatsApp reached during the final match of 2022’s global football tournament.¹

Fans celebrate goals with friends, debate referee decisions with family, and even finally purchase that jersey they’ve been considering, all inside chats.

For enterprise brands, this summer’s international football championship represents an extended window to meet customers exactly where they already are, in their most engaged state of the year.

This playbook shows you how.

During major football tournaments, consumer engagement intensifies dramatically:

• 89% of fans took action after seeing sports content on Meta platforms, including purchasing merchandise and engaging with brands²
• 41% are more engaged with sports content on WhatsApp compared to one year ago²
• 96% use Meta platforms before, during, and after live matches²

This isn’t passive viewership. It’s an audience primed to engage, share, and convert—if brands can reach them at the right moment.

The excitement extends far beyond match time. It’s the anticipation before kickoff, the halftime conversations, the post-match celebrations (or consolations), and the next-day analysis.

Throughout the tournament, football occupies a central place in your customers’ minds. Brands that deliver relevant, timely, helpful messages during this period will strengthen relationships. Those relying solely on traditional channels will miss the conversation entirely.

The tournament creates natural moments of heightened intent—a dramatic goal, a surprise result, a team’s advancement. These thrilling moments are prime opportunities to connect.

Brands can seize the moment through marketing:

• Interactive engagement: Prediction games and polls that reward participation with exclusive offers
• Moment-based campaigns: Time-limited promotions tied to match results ("Celebrate the win with 20% off—available for 2 hours")
• Personalized recommendations: Surface relevant products based on team preferences and purchase history
• Cart recovery: Re-engage customers during natural breaks in the action

Enterprises using the WhatsApp Business Platform can see 55% higher conversion rates and 10% higher average order value (AOV) from marketing messages on WhatsApp.³ When activated at the right moments throughout the tournament, the potential returns are game-changing.

Peak football season drives demand across retail, travel, hospitality, and more. Customers are ordering merchandise, booking trips, and arranging viewing events. When issues arise, they need solutions immediately.

How can you deliver championship-worthy customer experiences?

• Proactive order updates: "Your order is out for delivery and will arrive by 6pm—in time for tonight’s match"
• AI-powered instant responses: Handle volume spikes efficiently while maintaining quality
• Real-time problem resolution: Address travel delays, booking issues, or delivery problems directly in-chat

One key game-time consideration: Customer mood varies significantly based on match outcomes. When emotions run high, particularly after a disappointing result, lead with helpful, functional communication rather than promotional messaging.

What’s possible with the right platform and a customer-first strategy? Customer service teams using WhatsApp achieve 30% time savings per interaction and 72% see improved customer satisfaction.³

Major football events bring increased transaction volumes, but also heightened fraud risk. Customers are making quick decisions, often on mobile devices, and need assurance they’re dealing with authentic businesses. For IT and security leaders, tournament season is an opportunity to demonstrate that security and seamless experience can coexist.

Where should IT teams start?

• Verified business profiles: Verified checkmarks instantly signal legitimacy, building customer confidence for high-value transactions like ticket purchases or limited-edition merchandise
• End-to-end encryption: Every conversation is protected, addressing the privacy concerns that may stop consumers from messaging businesses
• Authentication messages: Streamline login and verification with one-time passwords delivered directly in WhatsApp, with a leading 96% success rate.³
• Seamless in-chat transactions: WhatsApp Flows enable secure purchases, bookings, and form submissions without redirecting to external sites

79% of consumers are more likely to message a business when they’re confident it’s legitimate.⁴

And when customers feel secure, they engage more. 84% of businesses report that customers using authentication and utility messages on WhatsApp have higher lifetime value—something that continues to pay off long after the final whistle blows.³

• Audit current WhatsApp Business Platform capabilities
• Identify 3-5 priority use cases aligned to the tournament
• Align marketing, customer service, and IT/security teams on shared objectives

• Develop and submit message templates for approval
• Configure automation flows, AI responses, and authentication integrations
• Train teams on tournament-specific scenarios
• Conduct security reviews and load testing with your Meta Business Messaging Partner

• Deploy time-sensitive campaigns around match moments
• Proactively update customers on orders and deliveries
• Monitor customer sentiment and adjust messaging accordingly
• Leverage verified profiles and authentication to build trust during high-volume periods

• Follow up with customers who engaged during the tournament
• Convert new opt-ins into long-term subscribers
• Analyze results and document learnings for future major events

The 2026 tournament will bring billions of fans together around the sport they love. For enterprise brands, it represents one of the most significant customer engagement opportunities of the year.

The data is clear: fans are on WhatsApp, they’re highly engaged, and they’re ready to take action. Enterprises that meet customers in these moments with relevant, timely, personalized, and trusted messaging can do more than just capture transactions. They build relationships that extend well beyond the final match.

Your customers will be on WhatsApp this summer. Will your brand be part of the conversation?

Ready to build your strategy for football’s biggest stage? Download your guide to the WhatsApp Business Platform to get started.