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Norway just did something it has never done in the history of its football program. The Scandinavian side knocked out five-time champions Brazil 2-1 in the Round of 16 on July 5, and now faces England in the World Cup quarter-finals on July 11 in Miami.
But the real story for crypto markets isn’t just the upset. It’s that this World Cup, co-hosted across the US, Canada, and Mexico, has become the biggest stage yet for digital asset companies to plant their flag in mainstream sports.
The match that shocked the tournament
Erling Haaland scored both goals as Norway dispatched Brazil at the New York/New Jersey Stadium. For context, Norway hadn’t even appeared at a World Cup since 1998. In their previous two tournament appearances, in 1938 and 1998, the team reached the Round of 16 but never advanced beyond it.
England, meanwhile, booked their own ticket to the quarter-finals with a win over Mexico. The two European sides will now meet in Miami in what shapes up as one of the marquee matchups of the tournament’s knockout rounds.
The expanded 48-team format, a first for the World Cup, has already delivered on its promise of more upsets and more drama.
Kraken, Polymarket, and crypto’s World Cup moment
Kraken is serving as the Official Crypto Exchange Supporter of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. That’s not a banner ad on a secondary pitch board. That’s a formal partnership with FIFA, the governing body of the world’s most-watched sporting event.
Then there’s Polymarket. The blockchain-based prediction market platform hosted real-money betting opportunities on match outcomes, including the Brazil vs. Norway clash. People could wager on game results using a decentralized platform built on blockchain infrastructure, bypassing traditional sportsbooks entirely.
What this means for crypto investors
For Kraken specifically, the visibility is enormous. The exchange gets its brand in front of a global audience that skews younger, more tech-savvy, and more open to alternative financial products than traditional banking customers.
Polymarket’s presence at the World Cup is arguably even more significant from a DeFi perspective. Prediction markets have long been considered one of the most compelling use cases for blockchain technology. They’re transparent, they settle automatically via smart contracts, and they’re accessible to anyone with a crypto wallet.
The risk, as always, is reputational. The crypto industry has learned the hard way that high-profile sponsorships can cut both ways. FTX’s collapse turned its arena naming rights from a branding triumph into a cautionary tale overnight.
For traders watching prediction markets, the Norway-England quarter-final on July 11 could be a useful case study. Polymarket’s odds and trading volumes around the match will offer a real-time snapshot of how decentralized prediction markets perform during peak-interest sporting events.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
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