France and Spain are set to clash in a FIFA World Cup semifinal, with a spot in the final on the line.

Both France and Spain have deep connections to club-level fan token ecosystems through their players. Paris Saint-Germain, FC Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, and a handful of other major European clubs have launched fan tokens on platforms like Socios and Chiliz over the past few years.

The broader Chiliz ecosystem, which underpins most major fan tokens, has positioned itself as the bridge between traditional sports fandom and blockchain-based engagement, giving holders voting rights on minor club decisions and access to exclusive rewards.

Platforms like Polymarket and Azuro have seen growing adoption for sporting events, letting users place positions on match outcomes using crypto rails. World Cup knockout rounds tend to generate some of the highest volumes on these platforms outside of US elections.

Fan tokens have struggled to maintain value outside of hype cycles. Chiliz’s CHZ token, the backbone of the fan token ecosystem, has seen significant drawdowns from its peaks. Holders who bought during the 2022 World Cup cycle learned a painful lesson about the difference between event-driven volume and sustainable demand.

Polymarket’s growth trajectory has been impressive, and sports betting represents a natural expansion of its core product beyond political events. The total addressable market for global sports betting runs into the hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

The risk is regulatory. Sports betting is one of the most heavily regulated industries on the planet, and decentralized platforms operate in a gray area that governments are slowly but surely closing in on. France itself has strict gambling regulations, and Spain is no slouch in that department either.