Why the World Cup is using tape
Being the most popular world sporting event, the FIFA World Cup draws a lot of eyeballs. Garnering roughly 1.5 billion viewers in the 2022 final, the tournament dwarfs the Super Bowl, which reported 125 million this past February, per NFL.
The viewership gives FIFA the opportunity to sell sponsorships for large amounts of money, and the organization does not like the idea of giving any free logo space. In fact, FIFA has gone to great lengths to ensure brands who have not made deals do not receive free advertisement.
Ranging from little sauce bottles to stadium names, if it is not an official sponsor, FIFA has mandated its removal.
In one press room, certain condiment containers were censored with black tape since they did not spend the millions of dollars to become an official sponsor. And it didn’t stop at condiment bottles, as some stadiums with logos on seats had to cover each individual one. At Gillette Stadium, workers had to cover 64,146 logos, according to The U.S. Sun.
In the press center of the World Cup, bottles of ketchup, mustard, and other sauces were sealed with black tape. This is how FIFA continues to fight against the advertising of brands that haven’t paid it millions of dollars for official sponsorship of the tournament. pic.twitter.com/C9p3x75foa
— Kordon (@Kordoneuropa) June 19, 2026
Even massive logos bearing the name of stadiums were covered up, such as Levi’s — which it used as an advertisement opportunity. At Levi’s Stadium, the tarp covering its logo kept its shape and advertised poking fun of FIFA’s mandate, like the truck below with the words “nothing to see here” on the side, as if people wouldn’t recognize the massive brand’s general shape.
After FIFA covered Levi’s Stadium branding during the World Cup, Levi’s leaned into the situation by altering its logo to match the censored signage and turning the moment into a clever marketing campaign.#levis#fifa#worldcuppic.twitter.com/Ni4t1I6nHB
— Tomson (@TomsonWoo) June 21, 2026
Japan cleaning up after matches
Following the nation’s first World Cup match, which ended in a 2-2 draw with the Netherlands, Japan fans stayed after to clean up.
The reason Japan fans clean the stadium after each game. Respect. 🤝🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/o9qJUOLefY
— FIFA (@FIFAcom) June 15, 2026
Collecting trash with the trash bags they brought, one fan said it is the “culture.”
It’s “respect for everything, respect for the players, supporters and also the stadium,” she said. “We are honored to be here, so we don’t want to make a mess and then leave it.”
Japanese Fans Leave Stadium Spotless After 4–0 World Cup Victory
Japanese supporters once again stayed behind to clean up the stadium after their team’s dominant win over Tunisia, earning praise for their discipline and sportsmanship #WashingtonEyepic.twitter.com/u36FCTT2Y5
— Washington Eye (@washington_EY) June 21, 2026
The cleanup party occurred again after the country dominated Tunisia to a 4-0 win. It is a stark contrast to what stadium sites in the U.S. are accustomed to seeing. Many fans will usually throw away what they used but leave anything else left behind for staff to clean.
The trend that is spreading to other country fan bases has even drawn comparison to New York Knicks fans, who celebrated an NBA Finals win with violence and destruction throughout the city.
Japanese fans cleaning up our stadium after the World Cup match pic.twitter.com/GnhZlhKjEe
— Special Situations 🌐 Research Newsletter (Jay) (@SpecialSitsNews) June 20, 2026
The trend seems to be spreading as other countries take action to leave their sections spotless, like Paraguay fans did following a win over Turkey.
🚨 Japan started a trend…the world is following.
Paraguay fans stayed long after their 1-0 win vs. Turkey to clean up the stands
This is the World Cup 🌎 pic.twitter.com/nMRrG3JLk2
— Polymarket Sports (@PolymarketSport) June 20, 2026
Nearly missed World Cup opportunity after ignoring LinkedIn invitation
If you needed another reason to keep your LinkedIn up to date, look no further than the Cape Verde national team.
Working at a bank and playing soccer part time in Ireland, Roberto “Pico” Lopes left to pursue his soccer dreams in his father’s birth country of Cape Verde, but he almost missed his opportunity.
Gue baru tau ada pemain Piala Dunia yang direkrut lewat LinkedIn.
Namanya Pico Lopes dari Cape Verde, match kemarin solid banget pas lawan Spanyol.
Setelah kemarin ada fun fact kalo personil band Perunggu LinkedIn nya gacor, ini si Pico diapproach dari LinkedIn buat main di… pic.twitter.com/TC2vf2PGdA
— Si Santos (@santosfinds) June 21, 2026
Lopes ignored a LinkedIn message inviting him to play for the African country national team because it was sent in Portuguese. Assuming it was spam, he left it alone. Fortunately for him, nine months later he received another message — this time in English.
He jumped at the opportunity and started the necessary paperwork.
He joked in a Reuters interview that he should have “Google-translated the original message” so he could have joined the team even sooner.
Lopes now plays a vital role for Cape Verde, as they hold a 67% chance, according to The Athletic, to advance to the knockout round after two draws with Spain and Uruguay.
U.S. soccer player eligible for national team due to concerned flight employee
If you ever think your job has no implications, think again.
Folarin Balogun is playing a major role for the U.S. national team. After scoring two goals in the first half of the first-round win of the U.S. against Paraguay, the team has to be grateful for an airline worker 25 years ago.
Due to a concerned airline worker over the stomach size of Balogun’s mother while she was pregnant with him, she was not allowed to the board her flight. Because of this, the soccer phenom was born in New York, meaning he was eligible to play for the U.S. Growing up in England, he was eligible to play for three different countries, when you add his parents’ home country of Nigeria.
After some recruiting, Balogun called it “a no-brainer” to play for the red, white and blue.
“A couple people decided a woman was too pregnant to fly, now U.S. soccer is gonna win the World Cup.”@MadelynBurke shares the story of how Folarin Balogun was eligible to play for Team USA ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/ygAO15jaMH
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 22, 2026
The U.S. is on its way to the knockout round after starting 2-0 in group play.
Foreigners react to the U.S.
Taking the internet by storm, a profile with the name of Freddy, a foreigner in the U.S. visiting for the World Cup, is showing the country what it is like with a fresh set of eyes.
“In Europe we have a lot of rather negative news about the Americans in the last five years and I think we’re all enjoying the fact that this country is so great to visit. The people are amazing, so welcoming, the culture is amazing,” Freddy told CNN.
“Europeans are getting a new view of America right now I think.”
A compilation put together by an account named Tyler Ratcliff shows various reactions to American culture from someone’s first American style ribs, to the beaches. It shows the excitement enjoyed by World Cup visitors from different parts of the world.
Compilation of World Cup fans discovering just how great our country is🇺🇸🇺🇸😎😎 pic.twitter.com/riwDTpVemI
— Tyler Ratcliff (@TylerRatcliff17) June 16, 2026
Why was T-Pain falsely tagged in New Zealand soccer assist?
DoorDash was supposedly cheering on New Zealand in what ultimately ended in a 3-1 loss to Egypt, but the delivery service apparently believes Tim Payne will always deliver when it comes to getting goals scored.
The New Zealander went from 5,000 social media followers to more than 4 million after an Argentine influencer said he should be the player to unite us all, since he is most like the rest of us, according to CBS.
Attempting to capitalize on Payne’s newly found stardom, DoorDash made encouraging posts and tagged the profile named “T-Pain,” which is not Payne’s profile.
It actually belongs to American singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer Faheem Rasheed Najm, who goes by T-Pain.
T-Pain had fun joking around with the DoorDash posts.
I’m playing dubstep at Red Rocks 😂 what exactly do you want me to do? https://t.co/x89BtrkO0B
— T-Pain (@TPAIN) June 22, 2026
Who do you think you’re tagging?? https://t.co/D0LvyOgY6q
— T-Pain (@TPAIN) June 22, 2026
I literally don’t play soccer https://t.co/h2DEJAoIhm
— T-Pain (@TPAIN) June 22, 2026
Are you all okay??? @DoorDash stop tagging me in these soccer posts
— T-Pain (@TPAIN) June 22, 2026
Payne eventually reacted to the viral social media interactions after his game with a gif of Speed uncontrollably laughing.
— Tim Payne (@TIMPAYNESOL) June 22, 2026
7 celebrity appearances at World Cup
Tom Brady
Tom Brady was seen watching Brazil and Morocco with his daughter. Realizing he was on camera, he decided to share his father-daughter handshake with the world.
A wholesome moment between @TomBrady and his daughter pic.twitter.com/XuElPlzGqf
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) June 13, 2026
Mike Myers
Known for “Austin Powers” and “Wayne’s World,” and as the voice of Shrek, Mike Myers was seen watching Canada’s match against Bosnia.
Travis Scott and IShowSpeed
Spotted in a Brazil jersey, rapper Travis Scott attended the country’s match against Morocco alongside content creator IShowSpeed in New York.
Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton attended both U.S. matches, acting as an honorary host for the second against Australia in Seattle.
Rob Lowe
Rocking a white shirt and sunglasses, veteran actor Rob Lowe was also in attendance with the star-studded crowd of Paraguay’s matchup with the U.S. team.
Ryan Reynolds
Canadian-born actor Ryan Reynolds also attended Canada’s opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Reynolds was spotted cheering emphatically as his country scored a late equalizer.
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