We’ve heard it before: “La vida es un carnaval”-  “Life is a carnival.” And for this year’s carnival, Bad Bunny gave us the opening act with his Super Bowl halftime show celebrating Latino America. This summer, the World Cup became the main event.

Across the three host countries, Latin American players, fans, music and traditions turned the tournament into a celebration of culture. Mexico welcomed the world with hospitality and pride. Argentina returned to another World Cup final. And Shakira, alongside Burna Boy, brought the tournament together with Dai Dai, the official World Cup song, a celebration of football, culture and unity.

What stayed with me went beyond the results. It was the flags hanging from windows, the songs in the streets, the jerseys in airports and the communities that formed around teams. You didn’t have to be Mexican to celebrate Mexico or Argentine to be swept up by Argentina. For a month, Latino culture became something the rest of the world was invited into.

Bad Bunny had already said it in El Apagón: “Ahora todo mundo quiere ser latino” - “Now everyone wants to be Latino.” This summer, we got to see what that looks like.

At Cannes Lions, I kept hearing about the growing importance of Latino audiences. The World Cup made that idea tangible. Latino culture wasn’t sitting on the sidelines waiting to be marketed to. It was helping create the spectacle everyone else wanted to participate in. Nielsen has found that Hispanic sports fans are 37% more likely to feel loyal to a brand when it sponsors a sport they follow.

Football Has Always Carried Culture

For me, football has always demonstrated how easily culture can travel. Call it fútbol, football or soccer, the game has allowed me to experience places around the world long before I ever visited them. Wherever I travel, I can almost always find a Mexico jersey. That shirt can immediately become a conversation, a connection and a little piece of home.