World Cups and other championships come and go, and so will the FIFA World Cup 2026 which is in full swing now.
However, lessons learned from them should outlive each particular tournament, and this World Cup should be no exception. Watching its drama unfold from the moment I flew on a London-Boston plane packed with the Tartan Army, I couldn’t help but draw a number of parallels between world-class soccer and affiliate marketing. In this article, I’d like to share with you my top three ones.
1. Success Requires Teamwork
Individual skills and talent are important both in soccer and in affiliate marketing. However, no man is an island, and the genius Luka Modrić alone couldn’t buoy Croatia past Portugal in the FIFA World Cup 2026. And speaking of Portugal, neither could the legendary Cristiano Ronaldo get his team past Spain in the Round of 16.
Same holds true in affiliate marketing. Having run this affiliate management agency for well over twenty-five years, I’ve learned that an agency is only as strong as the members on its teams. Similarly, in affiliate programs too, your results will be only as strong as the “team” of affiliates aboard your program. To protect revenue and quality of referrals, affiliate programs must diversify their affiliate bases across multiple marketing channels and affiliate types.
2. Watch Out for the Underdog
Rewind some twenty-five centuries back and you’ll hear that “there is no greater danger than underestimating your opponent”, a quote some attribute to Laozi while others to Sun Tzu. The FIFA World Cup 2026 showed some amazing examples of underdog teams play as the world’s top teams’ equals. At the Group Stage, we saw the debutant Curaçao play a shocking 0-0 draw against Ecuador, while in the Round of 16, Egypt scored twice and lead 2-0 most of the game against Argentina, the defending World Cup champions.
When in early 2017, AM Navigator started an affiliate program for Nectar Sleep, we knew what we were up against. The mattress-in-a-box idea was not new. Furthermore, the market already had well-established affiliate programs by such top brands as Casper, Saatva, and Purple, to name but a few. However, one year and five days into the launch, Nectar Sleep’s affiliate program became the number 1 program on the affiliate network, zooming past such giant brands as Wayfair, Deluxe, Reebok, Gymboree, NFL, Viator, and 5,000 others. Underdogs do win. Be mindful of that next time you see one. And on the other hand, don’t think that being an underdog immediately dooms you to constant catching up with the bigger players. Both in sports and in affiliate marketing, being an underdog is not synonymous with being destined to mediocrity.
3. Never Rest on Your Laurels
At the FIFA World Cup 2026, Italy, a four-time champion, didn’t even appear. They just failed to qualify. The Netherlands got knocked out by Morocco at Round of 32, while Brazil got knocked out by Norway at Round of 16. Norway has, actually, been a perfect illustration of an “underdog” scenario described earlier too. They have not been to a World Cup in nearly 30 years prior to the current one. Yet there they are in the Quarterfinals, with solid chances of advancing even further.
I always say that affiliate marketing’s nature is best-described as dynamic. It evolves with the challenges and the opportunities that the ever-changing online landscape throws at us. What worked last year may no longer work this year. What made you money ten or even five years ago may no longer even be viable. Because of this, online education and improvement is a must. Speaking of which, if you’re attending the upcoming Affiliate Summit in New York, or any of the other industry conferences, ping us and if our team is going to be there, we’d love to chat.