Few have even heard of it, but Yiwu, a city in eastern China, is home to the world's largest small-commodities wholesale market and right now is one of the busiest barometers of global football demand.
Foreign buyers from across the globe are once again gathering in the Yiwu International Trade Market to source World Cup jerseys, figurines, plush toys and bracelets, all of which are selling like hotcakes.
A global hub for sports goods, Yiwu captures an estimated 70% of the market share for World Cup merchandise, according to previous figures from the Yiwu Sports Goods Association. In the first quarter of this year alone, exports of sports goods and equipment from Yiwu reached US$416 million, up 12% year on year, customs data show.
The surge in demand comes as the 2026 FIFA World Cup, jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, approaches. The tournament will be the first World Cup hosted by three countries and the first to feature 48 teams instead of 32, significantly expanding both fan bases and merchandising opportunities.
For marketers and agencies, Yiwu is a real‑time indicator of where fan passion is translating into spend. The city’s exports of sports goods and equipment exceeded $1.47 billion, up 20.3% year on year, and are expected to climb further as the tournament nears.
Even as tariffs and geopolitical tensions weigh on other export sectors, sports goods have been relatively insulated, thanks in part to favourable tariff policies and the fact that many items are low‑value, high‑volume fan products. The bigger challenge merchants now face is not demand, but capacity - orders are coming in faster than factories can keep up, forcing sellers to expand their ranges and production lines.
A recent WARC Media report estimates that the 2026 World Cup will inject about 10.5 billion dollars into the global advertising market during the event quarter, representing a modest 1.1% uplift versus the 2022 tournament in Qatar. That figure is below the $12.6 billion boost seen during the 2018 tournament in Russia, meaning that while audiences increase, the World Cup’s marginal impact on ad spend growth diminishes amid a more fragmented media landscape.
Chinese brands are front and centre in the official sponsorship story. Among the major Chinese sponsors for the 2026 World Cup are Mengniu Dairy, which has returned as an official sponsor for a global, fan‑facing campaign, and Hisense, the consumer electronics firm that has backed the last three World Cups. Both brands sit at the 'official sponsor' level of FIFA’s partnership programme, typically in the $75 to 100 million range per cycle, according to industry estimates.
President Xi Jinping has
repeatedly highlighted the Yiwu model as an example of how local marketplaces
can evolve into globally connected hubs.
