Even when he loses, he wins: The $36 million reason why the World Cup is David Beckham’s oyster

July 16, 2026 — 7:39am

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If Brooklyn Peltz Beckham’s scathing assessment of his parents’ priorities is to be believed, public promotion and endorsement are valued above all else. “Brand Beckham”, the estranged eldest child of Sir David Beckham and Lady Victoria claimed in January, “comes first”.

Whether that feeling is fact is a question that might not truly be answered unless the 27-year-old self-styled entrepreneur and his wife, billionaire heiress Nicola Peltz Beckham, further make like Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex and accept a multimillion-dollar Netflix docuseries deal. Until that day comes, however, we can look to something else for “Brand Beckham” clues: the men’s FIFA World Cup 2026.

Unlike in 2022, when he signed a controversial “ambassadorial” deal with Qatar allegedly worth £150 million ($288 million), David Beckham is not the official face of this year’s tournament. But his beard has been beamed into millions of households worldwide every few minutes for five weeks and counting.

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That’s thanks to a few reasons. Of course, there’s the fact that his 2007 signing to LA Galaxy helped to popularise the sport in the United States, one of the 2026 competition’s three host countries. “Golden Balls”, as his former Spice Girl wife calls him, can also claim credit for bringing one of the greatest footballers in the world over from the........

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