For the first time in World Cup history, every team left standing at the semifinal stage has already lifted the trophy. France, Argentina, England, and Spain, all former champions, are the last four teams competing at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The bracket has France facing Spain, while England takes on Argentina. Combined, these four nations account for eight World Cup titles. Argentina leads the group with three, France has claimed two, and both England and Spain have one apiece.

A tournament full of firsts

The 2026 edition was already historic before a ball was kicked. It is the first World Cup co-hosted by three nations, with Canada, Mexico, and the United States sharing duties across North America. The field also expanded to 48 teams, up from the previous 32-team format.

Crypto’s role in the biggest sporting event on earth

Kraken was appointed as FIFA’s Official Crypto Exchange Supporter on June 9, 2026. Kraken’s activations include ticket giveaways, fan engagement programming, and a countdown concert that launched June 10.

FIFA has also embedded blockchain infrastructure directly into how tickets work. The organization adopted the Avalanche network for its FIFA Collect platform, which issues digital collectibles alongside two token types: Right-to-Buy tokens and Right-to-Ticket tokens. Holding the right token gives you a verifiable claim on a tournament ticket, and those tokens can trade on secondary markets.

No single official World Cup token has been issued by FIFA. Instead, fan token activity has clustered around Chiliz-linked national team tokens.

What investors and traders should be watching

Avalanche sits at the center of FIFA’s ticketing and collectibles architecture. Chiliz fan tokens are the other asset class most directly tied to World Cup activity, with all four semifinalists being nations with established football fan bases and presumably active token ecosystems. Fan tokens have historically shown price sensitivity to match outcomes.