The HR Guide to the 2026 FIFA World Cup

The HR Guide to the 2026 FIFA World Cup in summary:

Major sporting events like the FIFA World Cup can boost morale and bring teams together, but they can also create challenges for employers. From holiday requests and late arrivals to workplace conflict and talent management, this guide explores what HR teams can learn from football’s biggest tournament and how the right people strategy and HR technology can help organisations stay ahead of the game.

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Be honest: how many empty seats are there in your office the day after a major event?

Major sporting events – like the upcoming FIFA World Cup – can be brilliant for employee morale. They give colleagues something to talk about, create a sense of shared excitement, and can even bring teams together through sweepstakes, watch parties and friendly rivalries. All good stuff!

On the other hand, they do present some challenges for HR teams and line managers – and this year’s tournament will be no different.

With matches taking place across the United States, Mexico and Canada, many kick-offs will fall late in the evening or even in the early hours for UK viewers. Great news for football fans; perhaps not quite such good news for anyone expected to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 9am the next morning. If you want to know when matches will be taking place, you can find the full fixture list and UK kick off times here.

Of course, a few sleepy employees are usually the least of HR’s worries when a major sporting tournament rolls around. Instead, what’s your company policy on allowing people to watch crucial games during working hours? How do you deal with employees who have – ahem – ‘over-celebrated’ and come to work hungover or half-cut, or even failed to turn up at all? How do you handle competing holiday requests? And what happens if celebrations the night before lead to a few late arrivals the next morning?

The answer will vary from business to business, but regardless of your organisation’s official stance, businesses everywhere will no doubt be watching events across the pond closely. Possibly because they’ll be interested in the ‘beautiful game’, more likely so they can assess the potential impact on the workplace if England or Scotland go on a winning streak.

So, before the tournament kicks off and the office sweepstakes get wildly over-analysed, let’s warm up with a few familiar football phrases through an HR lens. Whether you’re a lifelong football fan or only tune in when someone mentions penalties, there’s something here for everyone.

Goal!

There’s sure to be plenty of goals at this year’s tournament – but what are your HR goals? Are they to help the organisation build an agile workforce that will help it thrive and survive in today’s competitive, turbulent climate? Or maybe they’re to create ‘a great place to work’ so the business can attract and retain the best talent?

With HR’s role in the C-suite seemingly always under scrutiny, people professionals are often so busy doing ‘stuff’ that they don’t have time to take a step back and make sure it’s the right stuff.

If your own HR team is to both add and demonstrate value, it’s vital to ensure your people strategy is supporting the business strategy, and geared towards helping the company achieve its commercial goals.

Penalty

No football fan likes to see a penalty awarded against their team, and HR professionals aren’t exactly fans of them either! Employers that fail to meet their legal obligations can face significant financial, operational and reputational consequences.

Whether it’s data protection, right to work compliance, employee relations issues or keeping pace with ever-changing employment legislation, helping the business avoid costly mistakes remains one of HR’s most important responsibilities. And, as you’ll probably know only too well, preventing a problem is often far easier than dealing with the fallout after the referee has blown the whistle.

Key Players

Messi. Ronaldo. Beckam. Every World Cup has its standout performers – the players capable of changing a game in an instant.

Businesses have their own key players too. They’re the people who bring specialist expertise, drive performance and help organisations achieve their goals. The challenge, of course, is finding them. Skills shortages, changing employee expectations and increased competition for talent mean attracting and retaining great people remains high on the HR agenda.

Just like football managers searching for their next star signing, HR teams are constantly looking for ways to identify, develop and keep the talent that gives their organisation a competitive edge… just without the transfer window and eye-watering wages.

Referee

A role HR often finds itself in. Warring colleagues, power struggles within teams, managers who get accused of unfairness or bullying by their staff – all the kind of disputes that regularly end up on HR’s doorstep.

Unfortunately, workplace conflict remains an all-too-common occurrence. Recent Acas research found that 44% of people in Great Britain experienced conflict at work in the previous 12 months – the highest level recorded in this type of survey. And it’s not just employee wellbeing that suffers. Acas also estimates workplace conflict costs UK organisations around £28.5 billion every year through lost productivity, absence and staff turnover.

That’s why helping managers prevent, identify and resolve conflict remains a key part of the HR role. After all, it’s far better to settle disagreements early than let them escalate into a full-blown extra-time drama.

Score

When it comes to the final whistle, one of the initiatives most likely to help HR score with the wider business is the introduction of a modern HR software system.

The right platform can take much of the admin burden away from busy HR teams: streamlining holiday requests, keeping employee records up to date, supporting performance management and giving people secure self-service access to the information they need. That means fewer manual processes, fewer spreadsheets and fewer last-minute scrambles when managers need answers.

And, while introducing a new HR system can be a game-changer, there are plenty of smaller improvements HR teams can make too. If you’re looking for practical ways to save time and work more efficiently, take a look at our guide to six quick wins for streamlining your HR processes.

But today’s HR systems can do much more than tidy up the admin.

With AI-powered features supporting better reporting, workforce analytics and clearer visibility of people data, HR teams can spot trends, identify risks and support more confident decisions around absence, retention, skills, performance and succession planning.

In short, embracing the right technology gives HR the chance to up its game: freeing up time, strengthening its voice in the boardroom and helping the business make smarter people decisions long after the final whistle has blown.

Full time

They think it’s all over… and it is now! Whatever happens on the pitch over the next few weeks, a little planning can help ensure your organisation enjoys the excitement of the World Cup without scoring any own goals in the workplace. And of course, good luck to all the teams competing this year… but especially England and Scotland!