​25.06.2026

Human Creativity for the Biggest Sporting Event of the Year:
BRANDNEW Creative Designs the ZDF Sportstudio Campaign for the FIFA World Cup 2026

by Eyes & Ears of Europe

A tournament of superlatives setting new standards: the FIFA World Cup 2026 is the largest in history. For the first time, the global sporting event spans an entire continent and brings together three host nations – Canada, Mexico, and the United States. For broadcasters, an event of this scale presents a major communication challenge: how do you combine the cultural and visual identities of three distinctly different nations with the aesthetics of football and the brand identity of ZDF Sportstudio?

Hamburg-based creative agency BRANDNEW Creative recently embraced this challenge, developing a bold and contemporary key visual that serves as the visual foundation across all relevant touchpoints – from the dynamic on-air opener to compact streaming thumbnails.

At the heart of the campaign is an energetic visual composition that instantly captures the excitement of football. From an extreme low-angle perspective, viewers look across the pitch of the monumental final stadium in New Jersey. In the foreground, the image freezes the powerful movement of a player at the precise moment of taking a shot.

The architecture was inspired by state-of-the-art American football stadiums, renowned for their expansive LED ribbon boards spanning multiple tiers. BRANDNEW Creative cleverly used this element to encode the identities of the host nations: subtle, rhythmically pulsating patterns integrated into the stadium's LED bands reference the cultural characteristics of Canada, Mexico, and the United States in a refined yet impactful way.

Despite these new continental influences, the design remains firmly rooted in the established Orange Heat framework of ZDF Sportstudio. This ensures that the World Cup branding integrates seamlessly into the visual language of previous tournaments as well as regular sports broadcasts. Based on the master visual, a comprehensive range of adaptations was created in all relevant aspect ratios for the ZDF streaming platform and various social media channels.

The key visual also became the creative driving force behind the new opening sequence. Within the opener, the LED bands of the stadium architecture were brought to life through sophisticated motion design and a contemporary visual aesthetic. The dynamic editing concept seamlessly combines fully modelled and rendered 3D elements created in Cinema 4D with live-action footage featuring key players of the German national team and the FIFA World Cup Trophy. Accompanied by the emotional title track “Kurz für immer” by Wincent Weiss, the result is a cohesive concept that perfectly builds anticipation for the tournament.

At a time when visual content is increasingly generated through automated processes, this project sends a clear message. Following the successful graphic packages for the Winter Olympics in Cortina and UEFA EURO 2024, the creative team once again deliberately chose not to use artificial intelligence for this large-scale production. The result is a powerful statement in favour of human craftsmanship, creative excellence, and strategic design expertise.

The concept's strong resonance with audiences was quickly reflected in the first viewing figures. The design made its on-air debut during the opening match on 11 June between Mexico and South Africa, accompanying an audience of more than 10 million viewers into this historic tournament.

Meet the agency: www.brandnew.world