South Africa, July 29 -- It shows that tournament scale alone did not determine attention. National relevance shaped local coverage, while individual players and off-field issues generated their own media momentum.

The 2026 tournament brought together 48 teams for 104 matches across 16 host cities in Canada, Mexico, and the US, creating an expansive media cycle around results, personalities, supporters, logistics, and controversy.

In South Africa, Bafana Bafana's progress was the clearest driver of interest in the Fifa World Cup. Average daily traditional media coverage fell by 44.9% after their Round-of-32 defeat to Canada on 28 June, even though the tournament continued for another three weeks.

A Fifa World Cup may be global in scale...