Countdown to the 2026 World Cup, Yiwu welcomes another explosion of orders!

Just for Mexico, one of the host teams, the order volume has reached as high as 300,000 pieces!

This year is the World Cup year, but it is a different World Cup year!

The craziest thing about the 2026 USA-Canada-Mexico World Cup is that it broke the 32-team system that had been in place for 24 years and increased to 48 teams at once, which directly led to an exponential increase in the demand for peripheral products.

Because there are more participating teams, fans from many countries such as Jordan and Uzbekistan have the opportunity to buy their national team jerseys for the first time in the World Cup. The order volume generated by this "first participation feeling" is extremely astonishing.

At the same time, the number of matches has skyrocketed, from 64 to 104, which means the "freshness period" of jersey OOTD has been extended, and the topic duration on social media has also been lengthened.

Although the core consumption power is still concentrated in the three "home fields" of the USA, Canada, and Mexico.

Mexico is one of the three major host countries of the 2026 World Cup. According to customs data for the first three quarters of 2025, China's export of sports goods to Mexico has grown very rapidly. The purchasing desire of the host team's fans is "essential".

With the support of social media, football kits (Football Kits) have long been out of the simple "sportswear" category and are now a kind of fast-moving fashion item.

Young people nowadays, especially the Z generation on TikTok, buy jerseys not to play football, but to take photos (OOTD).

Jerseys have been made into waist-cinching styles, hot girl short styles, and even pet styles. Jerseys have become as versatile as jeans.

There are several stores on TikTok that have sold out jerseys, one of which is called Fiery Jerseys, an American cross-border store that has sold a total of 23,500 jerseys in less than a year.

Why can TikTok turn "low-priced jerseys" into "fashion labels"?

In the past, the interpretation of jerseys was in the hands of fans, and wearing the wrong style could even be ridiculed. But on TikTok, the rules have changed: the algorithm doesn't care if you understand offside, it only cares if your color matching is good-looking.

The popular "dopamine dressing" in 2026 made Mexico's Maya texture green, Brazil's lemon yellow, and Argentina's sky bluenatural filters.

The hottest dressing formula on TikTok is "jersey + lace skirt + stockings" or "jersey + pearl necklace". This style, which combines extreme hardcore with extreme girlishness, has made jerseys a favorite of fashion bloggers.

Bloggers on TikTok post challenge videos of "how many jerseys can be bought on TikTok for $100". The visual impact of those walls full of jerseys is an excellent "electronic pickled vegetable".

Different from previous years, this year's designs are richer and the wearing groups are more diverse. Each fan jersey has newly added children's and pet versions. These styles are particularly popular with overseas customers, and many customers expressed their intention to place orders as soon as they saw the samples.

The popularity of "children's version" and "pet version" accurately hits two super dividends of the global consumer market in 2026: "family immersion" and "pet economy".

In previous World Cups, it was more of an "overnight party" for adult men. But the host countries of the 2026 USA-Canada-Mexico World Cup, especially the United States and Canada, have a profound "community football culture".

Families in North America and Europe attach great importance to "Family Time". When a father buys a Mexican team jersey, he is very likely to match one for his child. Many fathers give their children jerseys as gifts during Christmas.

In the European and American markets, pets are like children. Dogs wearing the host team's jersey appearing at fan parties have strong social media communication attributes.Pet jerseys are not clothing, but "emotional consumer goods".

On TikTok, short videos with pets have much higher traffic than ordinary videos.

The "long tail effect" of the event economy drives the growth of all categories.

Besides jerseys, flags and horns are essential for the World Cup.

Data shows that orders for such "atmospheric products" have seen 15%-20% year-on-year growth as early as the second half of 2025, especially those sent to the United States, Canada, and Mexico, accounting for nearly 40% of related categories.

Secondly, trophies and medals, which may be the most underestimated "long tail" field. The World Cup not only drives professional competitions but also sets off a grassroots football craze globally. During the World Cup, communities, schools, and companies around the world will hold their own "mini World Cups".

These unofficial events have generated a huge demand for trophies and medals. Every World Cup year, not only are gold cup styles popular, but also customizable medals with the elements of the 48 strong teams are orders that are received with ease.

The World Cup also directly drives the sales of "pan-sports equipment": the shipment of football itself has exceeded 6.78 billion yuan (a year-on-year increase of 16.8%) in the first seven months of 2025. Small football goals, marker buckets, agility ladders, and other training equipment have seen a surge in sales on cross-border e-commerce platforms.

Massage guns and massagers used during watching football games are also packaged into the marketing of the World Cup because of "event fatigue" and "sports association".

There are also some innovative high-tech products, such as "smart cheering bracelets" and "smart cheering bags", which have also achieved good sales.