Stake signs up four football legends for World Cup push
Table of contents
- Stake has launched “This Summer, It’s All At Stake,” a global campaign for the 2026 FIFA World Cup featuring Sergio Agüero, Iker Casillas, Eden Hazard and Patrice Evra.
- The hero video premiered on YouTube, Instagram and X one week before the opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
- The campaign is the culmination of a phased ambassador recruitment drive completed over the past year.
Stake has released its “This Summer, It’s All At Stake” campaign for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, bringing together four former international football stars in a humor-driven hero video built around the emotion and nostalgia of tournament football.
The campaign features Sergio Agüero, Iker Casillas, Eden Hazard and Patrice Evra, and was distributed across YouTube, Instagram and X roughly one week before the tournament kicked off.
The video
Each of the four brand ambassadors appears in a distinct scene drawn from everyday football culture. Casillas attracts the attention of a fellow nightclub guest.
Agüero helps a player back to his feet during a five-a-side game. Hazard takes on the role of a demanding coach. Evra inks a tattoo parlor customer with his signature phrase, “I love this game.”
The creative combines humor, nostalgia and the distinct personalities of four of the game’s most recognizable figures. Each scene reflects a different aspect of football culture, from grassroots matches and coaching sessions to the rituals and superstitions that surround major tournaments.
Jarrod Febbraio, Stake director, said:
“The 2026 global football tournament is one of the few sporting events that genuinely captures the attention of fans across every corner of the globe. We wanted to create a campaign that reflects the excitement, anticipation and passion that supporters feel throughout the competition while also bringing together some of football’s most iconic personalities.
“Having Sergio Agüero, Iker Casillas, Eden Hazard and Patrice Evra involved gave us the opportunity to create something entertaining, relatable and unmistakably football. The result is a campaign that celebrates the moments, emotions and conversations that make moments like this such a unique cultural occasion.
“At Stake, we aim to put our millions of customers at the heart of sport’s biggest moments. Whether fans are watching from the stands, at home or with friends, this campaign reinforces what it’s like when it’s all at Stake.”
A year in the making
The campaign is the culmination of a phased ambassador recruitment drive completed over the past year. Evra joined as a global ambassador in 2025, bringing his personality and punditry experience to Stake’s football portfolio.
Stake then announced Casillas as a global ambassador in December 2025, with the goalkeeper set to lead fan engagement and match analysis content throughout the tournament year.
Hazard completed the roster in March 2026, becoming the fourth member of the lineup as the operator accelerated its World Cup marketing activity.
Rather than broad ad spending, Stake has concentrated its marketing firepower on a small group of globally recognizable footballers, a pattern that has defined its approach to the World Cup cycle.
Ambassador reach
The four signings bring significant combined social media scale, with each ambassador commanding tens of millions of followers across platforms.
Stake’s wider marketing portfolio includes the UFC and other major sports and entertainment properties. The operator’s Argentina launch in Buenos Aires Province last week added further context to its World Cup push, with Agüero’s ambassador role providing a natural connection in one of its newest regulated markets.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. It is the first edition of the tournament to feature 48 national teams, making it the largest in the competition’s history. The final is scheduled for July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
With Stake’s ambassador roster assembled and its crypto-led sportsbook presence expanding across Latin America, the tournament will test whether high-profile celebrity campaigns sustain engagement across a seven-week competition and convert into measurable growth across newly licensed markets.
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