When the World Cup NFT, digital collectibles tied to FIFA World Cup matches, teams, or players, often issued as limited-edition tokens on blockchain networks. Also known as football NFTs, they were meant to let fans own a piece of the game—moments like goals, saves, or player highlights—stored securely on-chain. In 2022, FIFA partnered with platforms to launch official NFT collections, promising exclusive access, voting rights, and even real-world perks. But behind the hype, many of these NFTs turned out to be empty promises.
These NFTs weren’t just pictures. They were built on fan tokens, cryptocurrency-based digital assets that give holders limited governance rights or rewards within a sports team’s ecosystem, like those from Socios.com. Some let you vote on team chants, jersey designs, or even which song plays after a win. But most fans never got to use those rights. Others were just JPEGs with no utility, sold at inflated prices during the crypto boom. The NFT royalties, automatic payments owed to creators each time an NFT is resold, designed to keep artists and teams earning long after the initial sale system was supposed to help teams and players keep earning—but many platforms didn’t enforce them, or blocked resale entirely.
What’s left today? A few collections still have active communities, mostly tied to real teams like Argentina or France, where fans still trade highlights. But most World Cup NFTs sit unused, their value dropped to near zero. The lesson? NFTs tied to events without ongoing utility rarely survive. The real winners were the platforms that built actual tools—like digital ticketing, loyalty rewards, or interactive fan experiences—not just digital memorabilia.
If you’re looking at World Cup NFTs now, you’re not chasing hype—you’re hunting for what still works. Below, you’ll find real case studies of what failed, what barely held on, and how the same tech is being reused in smarter ways—with actual value—for fans, not just speculators.
The IguVerse x CoinMarketCap World Cup Finals NFT airdrop was heavily promoted but never delivered. No NFTs were minted, no refunds given, and no official explanation provided. Here's what really happened.