The 2026 FIFA World Cup proved a buffet for restaurant operators, with third-party-delivery giants using promotions and celebrity marketing to lure in orders, all-time-high traffic for restaurant middleware firm Deliverect, and app activity that ebbed and flowed in coordination with live play.
Fans largely held off their meal and refreshment orders until breaks from the action, according to analysis from mobile marketing insights platform AppsFlyer. For the July 19 tournament final between Argentina and Spain, for example, app sessions jumped 78 percent overall at halftime compared to 19 percent at kickoff, and U.S. food and drink purchases rose 55 percent during the match.
Pizza proved the most popular order during the North American-hosted quadrennial soccer tournament for Deliverect, which reported its single busiest minute ever during the July 19 finale: a surge in order flows 209 percent above the average minute thus far in 2026. Not only did the World Cup-capping match draw record-breaking volume, but group ordering resulted in average order values 17 percent higher than the typical Sunday.
“For ninety minutes the world stopped, but restaurants did not. What we saw during this World Cup goes beyond a record: ordering food has become part of how the world gathers to watch football, as much a part of the ritual as the shirt or the anthem,” Zhong Xu, CEO of Deliverect, said in a press release.
Pizza’s popularity as FIFA fans’ top pick extended beyond borders and grew throughout the tournament. Deliverect reported pizza orders in the U.K. hit 63 percent above average during England’s June 17 World Cup opener against Croatia, then 68 percent for the June 23 match against Ghana, then 79 percent for the July 15 semifinal match versus Argentina — 34,000 extra pizzas across three game nights. Similarly, France saw pizza orders soar 74 percent for its semifinal outing with Spain.
Deliverect’s data shows consistently strong numbers for delivery orders, with all of the U.K.’s top 10 delivery chains recording above-average orders for the England-Ghana match. None of the major food categories saw order decline during Spain’s semifinal showing. U.K basket sizes grew from only a few percentage points above normal early in the tournament to 17 percent during the final.
Tapping into the hungry audience of soccer fans in need of delivery, 3PD platforms like DoorDash, Uber Eats, Just Eat and Grubhub launched a flood of promotions and discounts, according to analysis spanning May 1 to July 13 from media intelligence firm Carma. DoorDash used a “Pick the Champion” promotion offering U.S. DashPass members a share of $5 million in credit. Uber Eats’ Dine Out offer allowed U.S. users to earn 30 percent Uber Cash, up to $35 per meal, while in the UK, Wendy’s limited-edition gold-whistle giveaway connected ordering with prize-led fan engagement.
Restaurant brands participated in their fair share of discounts for the tournament, too, according to reporting from SavorNation. Buffalo Wild Wings launched a Matchday Menu; Crumbl released a World Cup-inspired weekly cookie lineup; Jama served menu offerings specifically designed for the event; and McDonald’s rolled out a series of collectible cups and a World Cup-themed Happy Meal.
Although the 2026 World Cup breathed additional air into the sails of off-prem restaurant ordering channels while it was here, it likely foreshadows similarly impactful events to come as digital ordering becomes increasingly standard for today’s consumers.
