Climate Power En Acción Launches World Cup campaign

WASHINGTON — Today, Climate Power En Acción launched its World Cup campaign: “The Most Important Game.” It embeds climate and clean energy narratives into one of the world’s most-watched cultural moments. This work recognizes the 2026 soccer tournament not just as a sporting event but as a political and cultural moment, one in which values, safety, affordability and the belonging of Latino communities are already being contested. This $300k+ campaign meets Latinos where they are, leveraging the shared experience of the game we love to highlight critical issues affecting our people.

“The 2026 World Cup represents one of the few moments when our priority audiences are all focused on the same cultural experience. This work elevates the World Cup not just as a sporting event but as a unique moment in which values, safety, affordability, and belonging are central,” said Antonieta Cádiz, Executive Director of Climate Power En Acción. “For many Latino and immigrant communities, the experience of the World Cup will be shaped not only by celebration but also by all the factors that impact their day-to-day lives.”

As part of this campaign, Climate Power En Acción will host World Cup watch-party events in two key battleground states to bring Latinos in those communities together. The first will be in Phoenix, Arizona, on June 18, and will be organized around the Mexico vs. South Korea match. The second will take place in Atlanta, Georgia, for the Colombia vs. Portugal match on June 27. A central part of the campaign is World Cup-inspired trading cards that harness the tournament to spotlight the impact of climate change in cities with significant Latino populations. The cards will be a nod to the sticker albums that have accompanied World Cups for decades and will be distributed at the two watch parties. 

As part of the campaign’s content creator efforts, Climate Power En Accion is working with Latino soccer-niche and culture-first creators to use the trading cards as a bridge between these climate issues and a wider Latino audience. Trusted creators from Climate Power En Accion’s existing network will also connect the World Cup to the growing challenges posed by the lack of affordability, extreme heat, corporate greed, and clean energy rollbacks on Latino communities.

“This year, the World Cup arrives at a time when everything costs more, summers are getting more dangerous, and the clean energy progress that was finally delivering real relief is being dismantled as demand for affordable energy skyrockets,” said Cádiz. “This campaign uses the tension between the joy of the World Cup and the reality of our communities’ financial struggles to drive awareness, education, and action on climate accountability, affordability, and clean energy. The campaign operates across various components that we’ll dive deeper into as the World Cup takes place.”

The Most Important Game campaign features two paid media elements focused on YouTube, each running 30-second commercials. The first set of commercials will call out rising prices, utility bills, and those responsible for this increased cost-of-living crisis. The second will focus on rising housing costs, an administration more focused on immigration crackdowns than on helping people, wasteful spending, and leaders acting like dictators rather than public servants. These campaigns will target audiences in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Miami. 

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