From Bans to Beer Crises: The History of Drinking at the World Cup

Every four years, the world stops for a month of beautiful football. The 2026 tournament across Canada, Mexico, and the United States marks the historic 23rd edition of the competition. But while the action on the pitch draws billions of eyes, the action in the stands and pubs is fueled by a completely different kind of passion: global drink culture.

The relationship between the World Cup and alcohol is a wild ride of shifting traditions, dramatic host-country culture clashes, and legendary fan invasions. Pour yourself something cold as we take a look at how match-day drinking has evolved since the very first tournament was held in 1930.

A Quick Kick-Off: The Origins

To understand how we got here, we have to look back to 1930, when Uruguay hosted that monumental first FIFA World Cup. Back then, there were no multi-billion-dollar beverage sponsorships. The tournament featured just 13 teams, and fans watched the matches while sipping on local South American staples like Clerico (a refreshing white wine-and-fruit punch) or shots of grape-based grappa—a fragrant Italian brandy distilled from the skins, seeds, and stems left over from winemaking, of which we carry top-tier bottles like Sibona Grappa, Moletto Grappa di Barbera, and Nonino Vigneti Chardonnay Grappa right here at Bow Street Beverage.

For the first few decades, drinking at the World Cup was purely regional. It wasn’t until the tournament became a televised global juggernaut in the late 20th century that beer officially crowned itself the undisputed king of soccer culture.

The Evolution of the World Cup Drink Sponsor

Today, the marriage between football and alcohol feels completely natural, but it wasn’t always a corporate powerhouse. In the early days of the tournament, FIFA didn’t have official global beverage partners. Local host countries simply managed the refreshments.

That all changed in 1986 during the World Cup in Mexico, when Anheuser-Busch signed on as the tournament’s first official beer sponsor. They pushed Budweiser onto the global stage, birthing a multi-decade monopoly.

Since then, the corporate strategy has shifted dramatically:

• The 1990s–2010s (The Mega-Lager Era): Big Beer ruled with an iron fist. Sponsorship contracts required host nations to grant exclusive pouring rights inside stadium perimeters, which is what led directly to the Brazilian “Budweiser Bill” in 2014.

• The 2026 Shift (The Multi-Category Boom): For the 48-team mega-tournament across North America, the sponsorship landscape shattered its beer-only mold. FIFA brought on Diageo as its first official Spirits Partner, reflecting how the modern fan’s palate has evolved toward high-end spirits and canned ready-to-drink cocktails right alongside standard light lagers.

Stadium Suds and Culture Clashes

As the tournament grew, corporate sponsorships began to clash with local laws, leading to major historical turning points:

The “Budweiser Bill” (Brazil, 2014)

Prior to 2012, Brazil banned alcohol sales in football stadiums to curb fan violence. But when FIFA came to town for the 2014 World Cup, they protected their massive sponsorship deal with Budweiser by demanding the ban be lifted. The pressure resulted in the infamous “Budweiser Bill,” wherein the Brazilian government officially suspended its own federal law just so fans could buy beer during the matches.

The Dry Stadiums of Qatar (2022)

In a complete reversal of 2014, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar saw one of the most abrupt policy shifts in tournament history. Just 48 hours before the opening match, Qatari officials issued a total ban on alcohol sales within the stadium perimeters, forcing sponsors to pivot entirely to non-alcoholic options inside the gates and relegating drinking to specific fan zones.

Legendary Tales of the “War on Thirst”

The history of the World Cup is littered with hilarious, jaw-dropping stories of traveling fanbases completely overwhelming the local infrastructure with their sheer thirst.

Moscow Runs Dry (2018)

During the 2018 World Cup in Russia, visiting fans (especially from England, Sweden, and Mexico) achieved the seemingly impossible: they drank Moscow completely out of beer. Moscow was well-stocked with vodka, but bars drastically underestimated how much beer football fans could consume. Within the first week of the group stage, several bars reported running entirely out of draft and bottled beer, forcing suppliers to make emergency midnight runs while fans chanted in the streets.

The Great Boston Beer Crisis (2026)

History repeated itself in spectacular fashion during the 2026 North American World Cup. When Scotland’s famous “Tartan Army” descended on Boston for their first World Cup appearance since 1998, they nearly drained the entire city.

Pubs across Boston scrambled for emergency truck deliveries after the Scots drank four times more Boston Lager over four days than the city usually sells during a massive holiday weekend like the Fourth of July! Managers reported going through nearly 100 kegs of Guinness and Tennent’s in mere days, with local breweries having to dispatch emergency fleets just to keep the taps flowing.

Australia vs. Vancouver (2026)

It wasn’t just the Scots causing a logistical panic. Across the border in Vancouver, Australian fans painted the town green and gold for their match against Turkey. Aussie fans explicitly told a multi-level sports bar manager on Granville Street, “We’re going to drink you dry before we leave”—and they nearly did. The bar manager had to send a DJ in a personal van to a local brewery to hack together an emergency pickup of 20 extra kegs just to survive the weekend.

The Surprising Drink Choices of Football’s Icons

When it comes to what the actual players are drinking, the stories get even better. You might expect elite athletes to stick strictly to water and protein shakes, but some of the greatest to ever play the game have famous, unique drink preferences.

Lionel Messi & Luis Suárez: The Yerba Mate Obsession

If you see a photo of Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, or Neymar arriving at a stadium, they are almost certainly clutching a strange, wooden gourd with a metal straw. They are obsessed with Yerba Mate, a traditional, highly caffeinated South American herbal tea.

It is incredibly bitter and earthy, but players swear by its jitter-free energy boost. The Argentine national team famously packs hundreds of pounds of mate leaves in their luggage for every tournament. After Argentina won the World Cup, Messi posted a picture in bed holding the trophy in one hand and his mate cup in the other—the ultimate athletic endorsement.

Garrincha: The Cachaça-Fueled Wizard

Going back to the 1958 and 1962 World Cups, Brazil’s Garrincha—widely considered one of the greatest dribblers in football history—was famously fueled by Cachaça (Brazil’s sugarcane spirit). He lived a wild, bohemian lifestyle, often playing matches with a hangover and completely mesmerizing defenders anyway. To this day, old-school Brazilian fans toast his legendary goals with a neat shot of sugarcane firewater.

Jamie Vardy: The Skittles Vodka & Port Ritual

While not a World Cup winner, English striker Jamie Vardy became a cult hero during England’s modern tournament runs for his bizarre, wildly unathletic pre-match ritual. Vardy confessed that early in his career, he would fill a plastic bottle halfway with vodka and drop three bags of Skittles into it, drinking the sugary infusion while watching TV the night before a game. On match days, he would down a glass of tawny port in the morning to calm his nerves.

Cocktails Named After Soccer Legends

Mixologists and bars love paying tribute to icons of the pitch. If you want to drink like a legend, look for these tribute cocktails on bar menus around the world:

• The Bitter Italian (The Paolo Di Canio): Created as a nod to the famously fiery Italian footballer, this cocktail is a spin on a whiskey sour. It features overproof whiskey, lemon juice, and a heavy pour of Amaretto (which translates loosely to “bitter Italian”). The drink is punchy, aggressive, and unpredictable—just like Di Canio on the pitch.

• The Maradoniana (The Diego Maradona): In Buenos Aires, bars honor the late, great Diego Maradona with a cocktail that matches his larger-than-life personality. It blends Fernet-Branca, blue curaçao (to match the sky-blue of Argentina’s jersey), and top-notch sparkling wine. It’s loud, sweet, and incredibly strong.

• The George Best: Named after Northern Ireland’s charismatic winger who famously said, “I spent a lot of money on booze, birds, and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.” This tribute drink is a sophisticated twist on an Irish Coffee—combining rich Irish whiskey, dark espresso, and a float of heavy cream infused with Irish cream liqueur.

How to Drink Like a Local: Country-Specific Pairings

If you want to match your glass to the team on the pitch, here is a quick guide to how different footballing superpowers celebrate.

• Brazil (The Caipirinha): You cannot watch the Seleção without Brazil’s national drink. Made with cachaça, muddled fresh lime, and sugar, it is intensely refreshing. Pro-tip for locals: Bow Street Beverage carries an exclusive single barrel select of Novo Fogo barrel-aged cachaça. Using this instead of standard silver cachaça introduces warm, oaky complexities that make a wonderfully complex, elevated Caipirinha.

• Argentina (Fernet & Coke): If you visit a watch party in Buenos Aires, this is what everyone is holding. Fernet-Branca, an intensely aromatic, bitter Italian liqueur, is mixed with Coca-Cola over mountains of ice. It’s an acquired taste, but to Argentines, it tastes like victory.

• Germany (The Radler): German soccer and beer culture are inseparable. While many opt for a traditional lager, the Radler is the ultimate tournament daytime sipper. It is much like what we in the US would call a Shandy, though in the United States, a shandy is often mixed with sweet lemonade. Traditional European radlers heavily favor crisp grapefruit juice or sharp, real citrus juices. If you want to try it the authentic way, we carry Schöfferhofer and Stiegl—two legendary, completely authentic German and Austrian radler brands that keep things perfectly balanced and bright.

• Mexico (The Spicy Paloma): Mexico’s go-to watch drink isn’t actually a margarita—it’s the Paloma. Tequila mixed with grapefruit soda and fresh lime juice. For the World Cup, fans frequently throw in muddled jalapeño or a Tajín rim to mirror the fiery passion on the pitch.

• Canada (The Bloody Caesar): Canada’s true national cocktail is a massive watch-party staple. Similar to a Bloody Mary but using Clamato juice (a savory blend of tomato juice and clam broth), it is briny, spicy, and usually garnished so heavily it doubles as a match-day snack.

Whether you’re drinking a craft cocktail at a fan festival or cracking open a local lager on your couch, the World Cup reminds us that while we may speak different languages, we all toast the exact same goals. And, hey, it doesn’t matter if you’re looking for classic international ales, premium craft beers, or ready-to-drink cocktails to fuel your 90 minutes of fandom, Bow Street Beverage has you covered.

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