With the 2026 FIFA World Cup for soccer set to land in the U.S. licensing will once again take a fashion to the sport.

Yet while the World Cup historically has meant peak sales of soccer-related goods that quickly turn to close-outs at retail once the tourney ends, this time the sport is exhibiting staying power.

And while sales of soccer goods may never match the revenue generated by the NBA, MLB, NHL or NFL in North America, the sport is making fashion inroads along the widespread availability via streaming or broadcast TV of Major League Soccer (MLS), UK’s Premier League, Spain’s La Liga and Germany’s Bundesliga. The soccer clubs also were in full force at BLE with Arsenal FC, Barcelona FC, Chelsea FC, Manchester City FC, Real Madrid CF, Newcastle United Football and others taking booth space.

Even at the lower professional levels the sport is taking hold. The Portland (ME) Hearts of Pine, part of the 14-team USL League One, for example, were 96% sold out before the start of their first season this year and some jerseys sell for upwards of $120.

The top leagues feature fashion forward designs for sweaters, hoodies, jewelry, and other products that rival the standard gameday attire. The Premier League’s Arsenal team struck a licensing agreement with jewelry supplier Brilianto, which is designing a collection using carbon extracted from the turf of the team’s field at Emirates Stadium in Holloway, London, UK and featuring 0.5-carat diamonds.

That followed the #bootsonlysummer trend which emerged on TikTok last summer featuring people wearing casual apparel (baggy jeans, a hoodie, a bubble skirt, etc.) with soccer cleats. The combo was sported by singer Rosalía at the Met Gala, who wore a ball gown skirt and New Balance cleats. And TikTok influencer Noah Beck, a former University of Portland (OR) soccer player turned TikTok creator with 33 million followers, has made cleats a staple of his content.

“I expect the proximity between football [soccer] and fashion to become even more entrenched” in the months leading up to the World Cop,” said Daniel Yaw-Miller, the founder of SportsVerse, a twice-weekly newsletter.

Amid fashion trends, which lend currency to soccer beyond the field, is the arrival of European star players on it. David Beckham started the trend in signing with the MLS’ Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007 and Lionel Messi’s arrival in the MLS’ Inter Miami in summer 2023 further cemented the sport with sellouts of games and merchandise.  Off the field, Walmart recently forged a partnership with Spain’s La Liga to be the first-ever presenting partner of “El Clasico,” the rivalry match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF.

“Teaming up with La Liga and El Clásico enables Walmart to fuel the energy create unforgettable experiences and give fans more ways to celebrate the game that they love,” Walmart Chief Marketing Officer William White told CNBC. “Ultimately, Walmart is looking to make it easier for fans to engage and participate in the game.”

The involvement of Walmart is the most recent boost for soccer at retail. Several retailers have taken a regional approach with soccer-related merchandise in stocking it for local teams but not necessarily making it a league-wide effort. That’s the case with Tesco and Asda in the UK where merchandise selection is based on Premier League fanbases, licensing executives said. Dick’s Sporting Goods takes a similar approach with the Premier League and MLS in the U.S. And UK-based JD Sports stocks soccer-related apparel in the men’s clothing section of its London stores rather than in the sporting goods aisle.

“You now go into grocery stores in the UK and buy soccer merchandise and that never used to happen,” said Simon Skene, Manager of Licensing and Partnerships International at Fanatics Collectibles, which has licenses for trading cards and other collectibles with the Premier League, MLS and many European tournaments. “It used to be that you had to go to a Chelsea [soccer] shop to buy merchandise. The World Cup will help but U.S. fans are embracing soccer more and with Premier league, La Liga and other European players coming to the country this will continue to grow.”