Restaurants See a 3% Lift in Sales During the 2026 World Cup

For nearly six weeks, the World Cup took the globe by storm, with millions of soccer fans gathering to watch the action unfold. One of the places where fans took in those games was at local restaurants. To see how the world’s biggest soccer tournament impacted restaurant sales in two of the host countries, Canada and the U.S., we pulled sales data from over 7,000 TouchBistro restaurants.

So how much did the World Cup impact sales? The tournament ultimately lifted restaurant sales by 3%, but that number undersells what actually happened. The World Cup didn’t simply add revenue for the restaurant industry; it altered diners’ behaviors for the duration of the games. In fact, restaurants served roughly the same number of guests as this time last year – those guests just came at different times, in bigger groups, and ran bigger tabs.

Key Takeaways

• Restaurants saw a 3% lift in sales, across 4,000 and 3,000 venues in Canada and the U.S., respectively 
• The average check was $44 during live match hours ($11 more than outside match hours), with guests tipping 1.5% more
• The typically slower 4 to 5 p.m. time slot surged 30-44% when a game was on 

Continue reading to find out what operators experienced and learn how to increase your restaurant sales the next time a big sporting event, like the World Cup, comes around.

2026 World Cup Restaurant Sales Data

Beyond restaurants experiencing a 3% lift in sales, the World Cup caused a number of interesting shifts in diner behavior that contributed to that increase. 

Mid-Week Sales Saw a Boost

Monday to Wednesday sales jumped 12-19% in Canada and Monday to Thursday sales rose 5-9% in the U.S. compared to the weeks before kickoff. In contrast, Fridays and Saturdays barely moved. Weekend nights were already packed for many restaurants, but the matches filled the quiet ones. 

Diners Waited Until the Final Whistle to Settle Up

One in nine diners rode the tab past the final whistle. About 11% of all revenue was ordered while a match was live but paid after full time. The “watching the game on a tab” effect was visible because we can see when items are fired to the kitchen, not just when checks close. The typical gap between ordering and paying: about 35-40 minutes.

Drinking Times Shifted, But Stayed Steady

During live matches, alcohol’s share of sales ran about four percent higher than in non-match hours (Canada: 23% vs 19%). The twist: the overall share of alcohol was unchanged from last year. Fans didn’t drink more, but instead they moved their drinking times into the window of when the games were being played. And it wasn’t just beer: wine’s share during matches rose even faster than beer’s.

Normally Slow Dayparts Saw a Surge

There were spikes in various times throughout the day that restaurants consider normally slow, including:

• The typically slower 4-5 p.m. slot surged 30-44% when a game was on.
• Late-night games kept rooms full past midnight, and midnight kickoffs more than doubled sales in time slots that are usually empty. 
• The one afternoon showcase (Canada’s 3pm Round-of-32 win) pulled 39% of that day’s sales into the afternoon, versus 30% on a normal day.

Checks and Tips Increased

With bigger groups dining out with friends and family and staying longer to watch the games, checks got bigger and tips got better. The average check size during a live match was about $44, versus $33 outside match hours, and guests tipped 1.5% more. 

The Bigger the Stakes, the Bigger The Lift

As the tournament progressed so did restaurant sales. Despite there being fewer games as the tournament progresses, operators learned it’s not about how many soccer games there are left that fill their restaurants, it’s about how much the game matters to guests.

No Special Boost for Host Cities

While the host cities were hoping to see a significant boost in restaurant sales from tourists and locals, Toronto and Vancouver saw no special increase. These cities rode the same 3% wave as the rest of Canada, and even the days when matches were played in town showed no reliable extra bump. Ultimately proving that even though the World Cup games were hosted in 16 cities across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, sales boosts impacted every restaurant with a television, regardless of location.

Canadian Diners Showed Up

When the Canadian team played, Canadian fans showed up. During Canada’s matches, Canadian restaurants out-performed American ones watching the same game, in the same time window by about nine points. During the U.S. matches, the American home-team effect was about three points.

Top Impactful Games

Crowds flooded restaurants for games that kicked off around midnight, which is when restaurants would typically be winding down. In fact, there were a few games that more than doubled venues’ late-night traffic – Australia vs Turkey and Tunisia vs Japan.

The biggest crowds also showed up around games that kicked off around dinnertime on a weekend. These games included:

• Scotland vs Morocco and Brazil vs Morocco (both 6 p.m.)
• Colombia vs Portugal and DR Congo vs Uzbekistan (7:30 p.m.)
• Cape Verde vs Saudi Arabia and Uruguay vs Spain (8 p.m.)
• Brazil vs Haiti (8:30 p.m)

While the U.S.’s opener vs Paraguay game didn’t draw the biggest crowds, the game did run roughly 75–85% above a normal night in its 9 p.m. slot.

Off-Premise Dining Stayed the Same

So how were off-premise channels impacted by the World Cup? The answer: not by much. The mix during the tournament was essentially unchanged from the same period last year: off-premise orders (takeout, online, and delivery combined) were 9.8% of sales in Canada and 10.4% in the US, versus 9.9% and 10.6% a year earlier. There was also no indication that people were ordering food for delivery or takeout before kick off.

Beyond operators incorporating World Cup promotion ideas to increase sales, restaurants played an even more important role for guests: bringing together locals and tourists from around the world to celebrate the love of soccer. For more insights about what’s really happening with restaurants, check out our 2026 American and Canadian State of Restaurants Reports.

_{Disclaimer: This information is based on sales data from roughly 7,000 TouchBistro restaurant venues across Canada and the United States, covering the 2026 World Cup group stage and Round of 32 (June 11 – July 3), compared against the same dates last year.}

by Megan Lee

Megan is the Content Marketing Specialist at TouchBistro, where she uses her passion for food to write about the restaurant industry. She’s a big “foodie” at heart, and you can always find her enjoying a delicious meal at a restaurant with friends and family, or cooking one up at home. She also loves relaxing with a good book and making progress at the gym.

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