World Cup 2026: the power of a major event
For over a month, the 2026 World Cup brought the French-speaking Belgian audience together around a shared event. Despite sometimes unusual timing, television showcased its full power, while digital usage reached a new level. For advertisers, this complementarity between TV and digital platforms is a key lesson: when an event unites, cross-media sustainably amplifies campaign impact.
Why and how to advertise during the World Cup?
The 2026 World Cup has confirmed that a major sporting event is much more than a TV event: it is a performance booster for brands. In just a few weeks, it draws massive audiences, captures exceptional attention, and unleashes its power across all screens.
For advertisers, the challenge is no longer choosing between TV and digital, but leveraging their complementarity. Television creates collective emotion and offers rapid wide coverage. Digital extends this experience, reaches younger audiences, and multiplies contact opportunities throughout the media journey.
TV audiences uniting Belgium
More than 3 million French-speaking Belgians watched at least one match of the 2026 World Cup on RTBF channels. Overall, nearly 7 out of 10 people were reached by the competition. This achievement is even more remarkable given that half of the matches aired after midnight due to the time difference.
Evening broadcasts (6:00 PM–12:00 AM) gathered an average of over half a million viewers, with several matches surpassing one million viewers.
The Red Devils naturally attracted the largest audiences, but the final also showed that a major sports event goes beyond just supporting the national team. For brands, this means massive coverage throughout the competition, not just during Belgium's matches.
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An event that multiplies the impact of campaigns
The 2026 World Cup was not only a viewing success. It also demonstrated the full advertising power of a unifying event where each match offers a particularly favorable attention context and exceptional visibility for brands.
Across 104 matches, advertising screens reached 70.5% of the 18-54 target audience in French-speaking Belgium, generating 48 million contacts. Each person exposed to the competition saw an average of 42 advertising screens, illustrating television's ability to effectively build coverage and frequency, two essential levers to strengthen campaign recall.
Beyond raw performance, this edition confirms a key truth: when an event gathers massive audiences, television remains an essential medium to rapidly establish a brand in consumers' minds.
When digital boosts performance
While television remains powerful during an event like the World Cup, digital usage continues to grow. In 2026, RTBF platforms confirmed that consumers now follow major sporting events on multiple screens, based on their habits and viewing times.
With 13.5 million views, Auvio achieves unprecedented results, doubling its weekly reach compared to the 2022 World Cup. Its audience, composed of 75% people aged 15 to 44, naturally complements television viewers and allows advertisers to expand their coverage to younger profiles.
The results perfectly illustrate the complementarity between TV and digital. On average, Auvio adds 31% additional audience compared to TV alone. This gain even reaches 39% during matches broadcast late at night, showing that digital platforms effectively extend the reach of major events when viewing conditions are less favorable.
The rest of RTBF's ecosystem confirms this trend: 84 million views on social networks, 5 million page views on RTBF Actus, and over 100,000 podcast listens via podcasts demonstrate content consumption far beyond just the match broadcast. For brands, this is an opportunity to build truly cross-media campaigns that engage audiences throughout their journey.
FIFA World Cup 2026: Key Figures
- 3,057,000 viewers after 104 matches, representing 69% TV coverage.
- 544,000 viewers per match on average for broadcasts between 6:00 PM and 12:00 AM.
- 51% average market share among the PRA 18-54 age group.
- 10 matches watched on average per viewer.
- Belgium – Iran: highest audience with over 1.25 million viewers.
- United States – Belgium: highest market share with 97% among PRA 18-54 (TTVSH Live).
- Excluding the Red Devils, the final Spain – Argentina is the most watched match with nearly 1.15 million viewers.
- Advertising screens generated a coverage of 70.5% and 48 million contacts among PRA 18-54.
- 13.5 million views recorded on Auvio.
- 75% of Auvio users are between 15 and 44 years old.
- The final Spain – Argentina peaks on Auvio with 598,000 views.
- On average, Auvio adds 31% additional audience compared to television.
- RTBF social networks recorded 84 million views and 5.5 million interactions.
- RTBF Actus totals 5 million page views during the competition.
Sources: CIM Sud audience (French-speaking Belgium, reach 10 consecutive minutes, Live+7), RTBF for Auvio and digital platforms. World Cup held in the USA, Canada, and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, 2026, 104 matches broadcast on La Une and Tipik.