'It’s been crazy, bro' - From Gianni Infantino chatting up iShowSpeed to streamers telling fans they 'suck at soccer,' influencers are hyping Club World Cup to a new generation

This has probably been coming for a while. There are constant debates around America’s ability to expand its soccer culture, and how it might push for authenticity. More seasoned voices might always exist, but for a new generation - the very demographic FIFA is openly trying to target - interactions with the game occur primarily through their devices.

And accordingly, influencers have responded. Some work directly with FIFA. Others partner with a wide range of brands. There are plenty, too, who are leveraging their own content to simultaneously promote the tournament and increase their follower base. But whatever the method, it has become a mutually beneficial transaction in which more eyes are on some form of the sport, and individual brands grow.

“It’s basically been constantly promoting the Club World Cup. And it’s been good,” Kevin Sika-Nartey, known to his 142,000 Instagram followers as KevinFooty, said.

For most, curating a decent following isn’t the hard part. You just need an angle. TheoKicksBalls, a streamer based in Philadelphia, has developed his profile by making a series of videos claiming that any given viewer “sucks at soccer.” He has 226,000 followers and racks up views in the millions.

Making money, though, is harder. It’s far from a simple system. The vast majority of content creators don’t work with brands directly. Instead, they are represented by a handful of agencies, sprinkled across the U.S. and the world.

A shoe or apparel brand, for example, will coordinate with an agency, hand them a budget for a creator, and then connect with individual personalities. A couple of thousand dollars is typically on offer - although it depends on agents and follower base. Traditionally, in the American soccer space, brand deals were difficult to come by.

But the Club World Cup has brought an influx of cash for creators.

“I’ll have brand deals with sponsors that are putting money into the Club World Cup that want individual videos or personalized reels that are more like advertising based,” he said.

Watch every FIFA Club World Cup game free on DAZN

Stream now

For Sika-Nartey, it started in September 2024. He says he was asked directly by FIFA to piece together an Instagram post hyping up the Club World Cup. He worked alongside another creator, Imluppe, to shoot a video in New York City’s Times Square. It’s 15 seconds, back to front.

Here’s Luppe, pointing to a screen showing Vitinha Maradona spinning around a defender. There’s Sika-Nartey, looking up at a billboard promising “the best 32 clubs in the world” coming to the States. Luppe juggles, Sika-Nartey flicks.

One commenter promises that the “CWC’s gonna be a movie” with a fire emoji. A series of other creators in the soccer space interact. At the end of it all, the video was posted as part of FIFA’s campaign.

The process was quick. The agency assigned the content to the duo quickly, and FIFA gave them two hours after their shoot to post. That meant creating the video, editing, uploading and making extra footage that didn’t make the cut far faster than usual.

“They're very smooth, but in terms of deliverables, they want content like right away,” Sika-Nartey said.

FIFA is selective, the creator says. Most have been gearing up for the tournament months in advance, noting it as an inflection point for American soccer - especially as a precursor to the 2026 World Cup in North America - and a chance to raise their own profile. Such is the case for Alfardy Ali - who has 47,000 Instagram followers.

“This stuff I posted about the Club World Cup is just me, saying it's more than just a tournament or a money grab, or just another tournament to tire players out,” Ali said. “Like, it's not even brands or companies reaching out. It's just me just trying to, like, I don't know, just talk about football.”

A year ago, Scott realized the same. It was, in fact, what drove him into social media in the first place.

“I started making content, like a little over a year ago now,” he said, “and my whole thing was it's kind of now or never, because of these huge events in the U.S. coming up: the Club World Cup, as well as, like, the Gold Cup and even Leagues Cup, just like major tournaments.”

The same goes for those with relatively small followings. Lilibeth Rendon works for Area Sports Network, has a job in real estate in Manhattan, but also has an Instagram account with 9,000 followers. She knows that this could be important as she continues to grow.

“There's a lot of brands in America that like European soccer,” she said. “So it's like, you get to see your favorite teams - like, I'm a prime example of that - in an official competition. And it's finally not a friendly.”

There are more demanding jobs in the world, certainly. But what perhaps isn’t considered in the whole process is the number of hours that most creators put in. It might seem trite from the outside to have sympathy for people who get to watch soccer for a living - and kick a ball around on social media to make a few thousand dollars.

There’s an element of truth to that. But the CWC has also required travel, energy and editing work to a unique degree.

"It’s been crazy, bro, this past month. It's just like constant. I fall asleep and I wake up and I'm like, ‘Bro, I'm so tired.’ I haven't really rested. We were in Orlando for the weekend, and when we came back, I was so jetlagged. And then I had to edit a [commercial] video and submit to them. I fell asleep with the phone in my hand while I was editing,” Sika-Nartey said, FaceTiming goal after just waking up. “It was crazy, bro.”

It’s more challenging for those who have full-time jobs. Shin works from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on most days. He is a chemical engineer. He is an elder statesman in the New York City creation space, having made social media content - mostly around Manchester United - for 11 years. He is 33, and has been attacking the tournament while also dealing with, well, life.

“I'm worried that, like, one day, just like, at the flick of the switch, I'm just gonna just sleep for like, 20 hours or something,” Shin joked.

Others have travelled long distances. Scott has spent hours in the car going from Pennsylvania to New York and back, hitting as many games as possible to create content. Sometimes, there isn’t even money behind it. But for him, exposure is key to keeping his hundreds of thousands of followers happy.

“This is my first major tournament, but everything I've experienced so far is like very last minute, like ‘Hey we have these tickets, do you wanna come?’” Scott said.

Sometimes, that means multiple trips in a week. Some are paid, some aren’t. Rendon is following Real Madrid up and down the East Coast on her own dime - all in the name of capturing content with Los Blancos.

Sika-Nartey woke up to the email that kicked everything off. He is in his early 20s, and still a college student. Unlike some creators, he doesn’t have an agent. It’s his personal relationships, and the email in his Instagram bio.

Opportunities tend to pop up randomly - even from some big names. Such was the case with a major shoe and apparel company last week.

“I'm home, doing what I usually do,” Sika-Nartey says. “And then one of the guys reached out - I talk to him all the time - and he was like, ‘We have something with FC Bayern for the Club World Cup. So I was like, ‘Oh, sweet.’ We talked about the brief, and then what we wanted to do. I gave them my concept and everything. They wanted to go with it. So we made it happen.”

In other cases, it’s as simple as giveaways. Rendon says she had a connection at an agency that offered her two tickets to a CWC game in exchange for an Instagram post. She jumped at it.

“I thought it was good exposure to just know that I worked with an agency that was representing the Club World Cup,” she said.

Ali admittedly struggled to monetize his content so far. His method has been to go to as many games as possible, shake as many hands as he can, and curate his profile to catch the watchful eye of an agency.

“It’s a positive for me, just going to the game, but it's also another way to possibly get another paid opportunity,” he says. “You never know when the next opportunity's gonna come, but posting one video could lead to another opportunity.”

Scott, too, has also taken on partnerships without any money involved. He worked in coordination with an airline at one game - just for the connection it might build. A week later, he says a Chinese company got in touch and collaborated with him on a paid CWC sponsored post.

“There'll be other companies that just want you to, like, attend the game, if they have spare tickets,” Scott said. “Or they want you to post them on their story, like, thanking them for the experience, just, like, raising general awareness around the Club World Cup.”

For Scott, and many others, this is all a run up to the main event. The World Cup in 2026 is when soccer interest is expected to spike in the United States. Social media influencers are getting on the train now, approaching the CWC as a test run of sorts.

“I'm treating it as a practice,” Scott said. “A lot of the sponsors will be similar. So building connections with the sponsors, building connections with the venues, and then obviously the fans as well. So understanding how the venues work, testing out material, those kinds of things are, like, super important to me.”

The same can be said for Sika-Nartey.

“In 2026, you never know what’s going to happen. But it’s been safe, from my end. Hopefully in 2026 I get connected even more,” he said.

That will ultimately be a challenge, a number of creators have highlighted. It’s impossible to predict where the game will go in America. But it’s a safe bet to assume that there will be more opportunities - and more money - for the 2026 tournament.

“This is a preview of what the World Cup has in store for the country next year,” Ali said. “This tournament is smaller, there aren’t as many teams. So imagine this on a bigger scale next year. If they can see how much this means to the fans that are coming over, traveling to come watch their club teams - just imagine what they're going to see next year.”

Beyond that, though, things could get complicated. The 2026 World Cup will certainly be an inflection point for soccer in the United States, and 2025 is a good opportunity in the build up. There is a genuine concern among those involved, though, as to what will happen to the momentum of the game in the U.S. when the World Cup ends - or when Lionel Messi leaves MLS.

“There’s gonna be a huge problem after the World Cup,” Ali said. “It's obviously gonna be here for the younger kids, but in terms of the way they're trying to push the Club World Cup, it won't be here anymore. After Messi leaves the league, and all these brands are investing in it will pull out.”

There is talk of the 2029 CWC being held in the U.S.. There will also be the soccer competition at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and the 2031 Women’s World Cup will be in the U.S. But attention spans are fickle. People may move on. Ali is wary of this. His dream is to move to Europe and continue to create.

“It’s just like the perfect place to be to watch football. And, you know, all I enjoy is football. So that's the plan,” he said.

Others are focusing on the present. Shin has been in this space for more than a decade. He has seen interest rise and fall over time. This is a peak. With a full-time job, he knows that he will, theoretically, be able to keep doing this on the side.

Sika-Nartey, meanwhile, has a college degree to finish. Scott simply doesn’t know. Rendon has the portfolio of on-air work which could lead down other avenues. And in an ever-changing landscape, some creators will rise, others will fall. If Speed declines in popularity, who will FIFA turn to then?

For now, there is money to be made, and opportunities to make it. That’s enough to get excited about.

“I mean, I'm not trying to sound corny, like we're trying to shoot an episode of Dragon Ball Z,” Shin said. “But for me, like, I think all of the years that I've been doing content has led up to this.”