FIFA World Cup 2026" brand check: The ultimate non-logo
Heinrich Paravicini from Mutabor takes a close look at brand relaunches and brand designs for Werbewoche.ch. This time: the logo for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
There's the thing. Or something like that. In any case, FIFA has now unveiled the official logo for the 2026 World Cup in Mexico, USA and Canada.
A big branding occasion. But is it also a great design?
First of all, my heart laughs as this is the first time a truly modern corporate design system has entered the world of FIFA. The extra bold typography creates an ideal social media ready canvas for a variety of content, videos, content that will be used around the tournament. This is especially very evident in the 16 host city logos. The claim "WE ARE 26" also fits in seamlessly. Seen in this light, the concept really is a milestone, compared, for example, with the colorful pill men for the German World Cup in 2006.
Nevertheless, the logo has come in for massive criticism - the soccer blogs are overflowing with shitstorm-like comments. The fans in particular are not happy with it. The tenor: It has nothing to do with the cultural characteristics of the host nations. In fact, the logo design is radically simple. It leaves out everything except the lettering and the trophy. Since 2002, the trophy has always had to be an integral part of the logo and in recent years has regularly been represented by graphic insignia of the host countries. Now the break: The trophy is no longer staged - it is simply depicted.
Everything about staging happens in the background. Is that even a logo? The expert says yes, because he knows that "logo" comes from "logon", "word" in ancient Greek. The point is: With this design, FIFA actually makes all future World Cup logo developments superfluous. From now on, you only need to change the year (we are 30, we are 34...), load the appropriate country-specific content into the font - done. Again, a piece of culture has disappeared in football - which is hardly surprising now with FIFA. And so, unfortunately, my heart can't really laugh heartily. In the end, football is emotion and not a design system, no matter how sophisticated it may be.
* Heinrich Paravicini is founder and creative director of Mutabor.
