Lionel Messi now has 18 World Cup goals. He scored three against Algeria in Kansas City, then two more against Austria in Arlington, breaking the World Cup record.
The world sees the record. The Argentina Football association sees the commercial value behind it.
Every Messi goal that moves Argentina closer to another World Cup, gives sponsors another match window, pushes shirt demand higher, creates another global media cycle, lifts the value of regional rights, drives traffic toward official platforms, and gives brands another reason to buy into Argentina before the Messi-era ends.
When Leandro Petersen joined AFA as Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer in October 2017, the federation had only six sponsors, all of them domestic. The demand was global, but the commercial system was not. AFA had little fan content, weak digital infrastructure, limited international presence, and no serious way to monetise the millions of people outside Argentina who cared deeply about the national team.
Eight years later, AFA has built one of the most aggressive commercial operations in sport. It now has around 65 sponsors, regional partners across 21 countries, a kit deal with Adidas through 2038, an official ecommerce store with Fanatics, a direct streaming platform in AFA Play, an international academy network, a Miami base, official data rights with Genius Sports, an AI partnership with Google Gemini, and a prediction market sponsor in Kalshi.
365247 Sports breaks down how Argentina’s football federation turned the world’s most emotional football asset into a massive business!