Hyundai launches FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign 'The Future Starts Here and Now

Hyundai Motor has announced that it is launching its brand World Cup campaign, 'Next Starts Now', which encompasses next-generation football and the future mobility vision, in celebration of the FIFA World Cup 2026™. The company made the announcement on Monday (the 8th).

Through this campaign, Hyundai plans to offer new brand experiences to football fans worldwide via a variety of programmes, ranging from sponsorship activities that convey new possibilities for future mobility centred on robotics technology, to flagship fan participation events.

Earlier this month, Hyundai signalled the official start of the campaign by releasing a main video carrying the message that the future is not something to wait for, but something to create from this very moment.

Produced under the brand vision of 'Progress for Humanity', this video dynamically captures the challenges of next-generation football prospects and the future that Hyundai's mobility innovations will forge, unfolding on the global stage.

Furthermore, Son Heung-min, Hyundai Motor's global brand ambassador, appears as a legend who inspires the growing generation, adding meaning by motivating young players in their development.

In addition, Boston Dynamics' humanoid robot 'Atlas' makes an appearance, symbolically showcasing the robotics technology vision presented by Hyundai Motor.

Hyundai will deliver the core message of 'Next Starts Now' to football fans in approximately 180 countries around the world through various channels, including TV, digital, and social platforms.

Meanwhile, at the World Cup venues themselves, Hyundai Motor will further expand its sponsor programmes as the official mobility partner for the FIFA World Cup 2026™.

First, Hyundai Motor plans to provide the largest fleet of official vehicles in the history of the tournament, in line with the opening of the World Cup, which is being held on an unprecedented scale.

Having maintained an official FIFA mobility partnership for 27 years since 1999, Hyundai Motor will support the tournament with a total of approximately 1,500 vehicles, including 994 passenger cars and 506 buses.

The support vehicles, consisting of key internal combustion engine and hybrid models such as the Palisade, Santa Fe, Tucson, Kona, Avante, and Creta, will assist with the transportation of participating national teams, tournament officials, operational staff, and media across 16 cities in the three host countries—the United States, Canada, and Mexico—and will take the lead in ensuring smooth operations.

In particular, Hyundai, which expanded its role to become FIFA's official robotics partner in 2023, will introduce four of Boston Dynamics' quadrupedal robots, 'Spot', for the first time in the partnership's history, showcasing itself as a future mobility innovator beyond simply a mobility provider.

The Spot robots deployed for this World Cup will be officially handed over to the FIFA security team and will actively support on-site security by performing tasks such as autonomous patrols and monitoring at key locations, including the Dallas International Broadcast Centre (IBC) and the New York/New Jersey Stadium.

From the middle of the tournament, Hyundai's flagship World Cup programme, the 'Hyundai Goal of the Tournament', will be operated.

The Hyundai Goal of the Tournament is a representative fan participation programme that selects the best goal of the tournament through votes from football fans worldwide during the World Cup. Since its inception at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, it has consistently chosen iconic moments that have left a deep impression on football fans at each tournament.

From this tournament onwards, the voting method has been revamped. Moving away from the previous system of selecting a single winner through fan voting after the World Cup ends, the best goal for each stage will first be selected at the conclusion of the group stage and each knockout round. Then, after the final, a final fan vote will be held among these stage-winning goals to determine the tournament's best goal.

Through this revamp, Hyundai Motor plans to further expand opportunities for fan participation and strengthen communication with global football fans throughout the entire tournament period.