20 July 2026: Trust, not technology, defined how payment brands were talked about at this year’s FIFA World Cup, according to new analysis from media intelligence provider CARMA.
CARMA reviewed 898 articles covering four payment brands, Mastercard, Visa, PayPal and Apple Pay, and found that coverage clusters around fraud risk, ticketing, betting, and cashless spending at World Cup fan venues. Mastercard holds the largest share of coverage, most of it linked to scam-related stories. PayPal and Apple Pay primarily appear in relation to payment infrastructure, linked to digital wallets and betting platforms. Visa has the smallest media footprint of the four, but the clearest single narrative around its status as an official tournament partner.
Betting is the single largest theme running through the coverage, followed by fraud and scams. Thought leadership content from the brands themselves adds a further layer, positioning them as sources of consumer guidance in addition to payment providers.
Mastercard’s Reach Comes with Added Scrutiny
Mastercard’s media coverage is dominated by fraud, its top theme at 195 mentions. A further 162 mentions fall under thought leadership, much of it built around scam data and consumer education. Messi’s long-running association with the brand also holds some weight, contributing 36 mentions under athlete partnership.
Mastercard leads on social volume by a wide margin during the World Cup, with 41.4K mentions and a positive sentiment rate of 97.1%. While positive sentiment posts generated around 1K engagements, most of it linked to crypto-promotional posts rather than genuine fan commentary. A stronger signal came from negative conversation, which centred on payment failures, fake FIFA websites and card-data theft.
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PayPal’s Role is Functional Rather than Promotional
PayPal’s strongest theme is betting, with 244 mentions positioning the brand as a payment gateway for wagering and prediction markets rather than a sponsor. Fan experiences added 78 mentions, though largely through betting offers such as free bets and bet builders.
On social, PayPal outperforms every other brand on engagement, pulling in 100.4K from 10.6K mentions, largely driven by creator donation content and monetisation on YouTube. Sentiment is mostly neutral at 77.4%. Where negative conversation does appear, it tends to stem from donation fatigue and frustration over ticket prices rather than complaints about PayPal itself.
Apple Pay Plays a Functional Role in Cashless Fan Environments
Apple Pay has the smallest media and social footprint of the four brands tracked, with 950 mentions and 6.3K engagements. Betting again tops its media coverage at 183 mentions, followed by fan experiences, mostly linked to cashless payment options inside fan zones rather than a dedicated campaign.
Sentiment holds mostly neutral at 64.5%. Apple Pay also shows the broadest geographic spread of any brand tracked, with 67.7% of conversation from the US, 13.5% from the UK and the remaining 14.3% spread across other key markets.
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Visa Trades Scale for a Sponsorship and Legacy-led Story
Visa recorded the lowest share of voice among the four brands, with 4.3K social mentions, but the highest engagement relative to volume at 55.5K. Its online media coverage was led by sponsorship (119 mentions) and youth soccer/donations (91 mentions), supported by initiatives including Visa Street Soccer Parks with Street Soccer USA and Bank of America, and a $600,000 commitment to nonprofits across the three host nations through its “Tap In to Impact” programme.
Sentiment is the most balanced of any brand tracked, split 51.8% positive to 45.5% neutral. The negative coverage reflected broader scrutiny of FIFA rather than issues specific to Visa itself.