South Korea’s advertising industry entered the 2026 FIFA World Cup expecting a prolonged marketing boom, encouraged by a national team widely viewed as one of the country’s strongest ever and a Group A draw many considered favorable. Instead, South Korea failed to advance to the tournament’s 32-team knockout stage, abruptly ending hopes for weeks of additional World Cup-related advertising and promotions.
The early exit has dealt a blow to advertisers, broadcasters and agencies that had anticipated a surge in spending tied to a deeper tournament run. Companies typically expand marketing campaigns as the national team advances, while advertising agencies earn additional revenue from media placements, campaign planning and promotional production.
Expectations had been particularly high this year. South Korea arrived at the tournament with a squad featuring Europe-based stars including Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in, Kim Min-jae and Lee Jae-sung. Combined with what was widely seen as a manageable group, many in the advertising industry expected the team to comfortably reach the knockout stage.
Those expectations shaped business plans across the industry.
Naver, South Korea’s largest internet company and operator of livestreaming platform Chzzk, said cumulative views for full broadcasts of South Korea’s three group-stage matches exceeded 50 million, underscoring the commercial appeal of national-team games.
The Korea Broadcast Advertising Corp., or KOBACO, South Korea’s state-run media sales agency, said advertising inventory for South Korea’s opening match against the Czech Republic, valued at roughly $4 million, sold out completely. Virtual advertisements displayed during the broadcast, worth about $2 million, as well as newly introduced hydration-break commercials, were also fully booked ahead of the tournament, allowing broadcasters to surpass their World Cup sales targets.
Advertising agencies had expected that momentum to continue if South Korea advanced. Each additional match would likely have generated new campaign orders, promotional events and increased media spending.
Instead, South Korea’s World Cup campaign ended after just three matches.
Innocean, a global marketing company affiliated with Hyundai Motor Group, South Korea’s largest automaker and the parent company of Hyundai, Kia and Genesis, said in its annual business plan that it intended to roll out differentiated marketing campaigns centered on major sporting events, including the FIFA World Cup and the Cricket World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. The company reported 1Q operating profit of about $25 million, up 33.3% from a year earlier.
Cheil Worldwide, South Korea’s largest advertising agency and a Samsung Group affiliate, had also forecast continued market expansion in 2026, citing major international events such as the Olympics and the World Cup.
“An agency typically receives commissions of around 10% to 15% when an advertiser spends about $6 million, and additional campaigns generate further production revenue,” one advertising industry official said.
“If South Korea had advanced to the knockout stage, agencies would have expected new campaign orders for every additional match,” the official said. “Those opportunities disappeared entirely with the group-stage elimination.”
South Korea’s disappointing performance also reignited criticism of the Korea Football Association, South Korea’s governing body for soccer, potentially further reducing enthusiasm for campaigns tied to the national team.
For South Korea’s advertising industry, a World Cup that was expected to deliver weeks of additional marketing opportunities ended after only three games.
