Every week through the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Social Element’s Strategy & Intelligence team is tracking and reporting back on the conversation around the tournament.

Powered by our Brand Currency Methodology™ and data collated across Talkwalker, Perplexity, and broader sports reporting, our reports will explore what fans are actually talking about across three signal types: topics brands should moderate, topics worth engaging with, and topics to keep an eye on as they develop. Tracking these signals as they enter the conversation, heat up, and sustain – providing intelligence on trajectory as well as volume.

About this edition

Our fifth edition covers July 6 to July 12. The quarter-finals delivered England’s passage to the semi-finals and a dramatic Argentina win over Switzerland in extra time, confirming the two ties the whole tournament has been building toward: France vs Spain and England vs Argentina. The week’s biggest engagement story was the USA’s round-of-16 exit – Belgium’s 4-1 win generated the highest single-post engagement of the series, driven by a viral tweet linking the result to domestic politics, and the sight of Belgian players performing a post-match celebration that drew immediate political commentary. Net sentiment compressed to +1%, the lowest of the series, as the elimination-heavy start to the week pushed negative volume before recovering through the quarter-finals. The loudest risk signal came from the Argentina–Egypt VAR controversy: a disallowed Egyptian goal fuelled sustained anger around refereeing integrity, compounded by an incident involving Egypt’s coaching staff that added a geopolitical dimension well beyond the scoreline.

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