Did you know that the 2026 World Cup will generate US$30.5 billion in the United States, while Central America - where only Panama qualified - registers the lowest level of interest in the tournament in the entire region?
The narrative of generalized bonanza hides a real asymmetry. Mexico, as the only Latin American headquarters, captures an estimated spill over of US$4,050 million (Deloitte). But the same tournament can cost a Central American company more than it brings in: productivity losses of up to US$479 million in Canada alone (UKG survey), and an impact of not qualifying that in Costa Rica would reach US$143 million, according to economist Víctor Umaña.
The question that every Financial Directorate in the region should ask itself is not whether the World Cup will generate economic activity. It is if your company is exposed to the costs of the tournament without participating in its profits. In our new white paper, "Autogol o gol de oro: the true account of the 2026 World Cup for Central American companies," we cross-referenced data from Moody's Analytics, Bloomberg, the Journal of Economic Perspectives, and real cases from the region to answer that question, and left three concrete questions that every Central American CEO and CFO should bring to their next steering committee. I share it below. Has your company already quantified the cost of these 39 days, or is it absorbing it without measuring it?
Let's talk. We work under a fee model on real savings: no savings, no fees.
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