Salesforce, the customer relationship management provider, has joined the commercial slate of soccer’s FIFA governing body in a last-minute deal ahead of the sport’s flagship men’s 2026 World Cup national teams tournament.
The new agreement sees Salesforce become an official tournament supporter of the upcoming 2026 World Cup across North America and Europe, and a supporter of the 2027 Women’s World Cup (WWC) in North America and host country Brazil.
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The partnership will center around Salesforce’s Agentforce 360, the portfolio of AI solutions that have been integrated into the company’s cloud-based Slack platform, which will be used across the two tournaments for workflow management.
Both tournaments will be given access to the Salesforce ecosystem to manage communications between host cities, suppliers, and stakeholders.
Specifically, for the 2026 World Cup, Salesforce will deploy Slack to coordinate workforce management across the 16 host cities in the US, Mexico, and Canada, with the platform to serve as “an operational surface for workforce, apps, and AI-powered workflows to work together in real time.”
The partnership will ramp up for the 2027 WWC in Brazil, with Salesforce’s Agentforce 360 platform used to power fan engagement across FIFA’s digital platforms. Autonomous agents will pore through tournament data to provide human-level support, offering fans personalized omni-channel interactions.
Romy Gai, FIFA’s chief business officer, said: “The greatest tournaments require the very best partners alongside us.
“Salesforce’s technology and expertise will help support the delivery of two landmark competitions, connecting participating teams, host cities, volunteers, partners, and fans through innovative digital solutions.”
Patrick Stokes, president and chief marketing officer of Salesforce, added: “The FIFA World Cup is the moment the world stops to watch, and delivering it is one of the most complex undertakings in global sport.
“Together, we’ll show what’s possible when the world’s most-loved game meets the world’s number one AI customer relationship management – connecting fans, stakeholders, and host cities like never before.”
The new deal adds to Salesforce’s growing sports partnership slate, having extended and expanded its tie-up earlier this year with the iconic Formula 1 motor racing series through 2030.
The company also has partnerships in place with the Mercedes F1 team, US basketball’s Indiana Fever WNBA franchise, and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tour.
FIFA, meanwhile, is continuing to add more partners to its portfolio as it prepares for the men’s World Cup to start next week (June 11).
Earlier this week, the body was finally able to secure a last-minute rights agreement in India with media enterprise Zee Entertainment, narrowly avoiding a blackout in one of the world’s most populous countries.
Meanwhile, in the run-up to the event, FIFA has faced questions about its ticketing practices in the US, with the attorneys general of New York and New Jersey issuing a subpoena to the governing body as part of an investigation.
The attorneys general have demanded information on FIFA’s ticketing strategy after reports emerged that customers may have been misled about the location of the tickets they had acquired.
This specifically relates to tickets sold for games at the New York/New Jersey venue, MetLife Stadium, which will host eight games, including the showpiece final.
