South Korea's elimination from the group stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America has brought the retail industry's World Cup windfall to a halt. Marketing campaigns built around the national team's matches are now winding down ahead of schedule.
OB Beer, an official World Cup sponsor and national team partner, had been running the "Cass FIFA World Cup 2026 Fan Base Camp" near Gangnam Station and a sports-pub viewing event called "Viewing Pub" under its Cass brand, according to industry sources Tuesday. With the team's elimination in the round of 32, the company said it would not pursue follow-up promotions such as extending the pop-up.
Convenience stores are in a similar position. Chains had been running discount promotions on items such as fried chicken on the day before and the day of each national team match, but those campaigns are naturally winding down following the elimination. GS25, however, plans to continue monthly discount events scheduled regardless of the team's results. CU said it will carry on with its summer discount sale independent of the team's exit. Seven-Eleven plans to keep marketing products that drew strong demand from match viewers.
Convenience stores had enjoyed a significant boost as all of South Korea's matches kicked off in the morning. At CU stores near Gwanghwamun, sales on the day of the match against the Czech Republic jumped 240 percent compared with the previous day. Sales rose 280 percent during the Mexico match and 150 percent during the South Africa match. GS25 and Seven-Eleven also saw sales surge 162.5 percent and 250 percent, respectively, during the third group-stage match compared with the previous week.
A CU analysis of sales at stores near Gwanghwamun during the third match found that ice sales surged 310.2 percent compared with a week earlier, followed by bottled water (up 307.8 percent), sports drinks (266.8 percent), iced beverages (222.0 percent), ice cream (148.4 percent) and beer (105.1 percent). Ready-to-eat items also climbed, with triangle kimbap up 122.8 percent, sandwiches up 88.5 percent and kimbap up 85.2 percent. GS25 posted even sharper gains in alcohol-related categories on the same day — non-alcoholic beer soared 2,053.3 percent, domestic beer 1,561 percent, highball drinks 1,272.5 percent, bar snacks 863.5 percent, fried chicken 175.7 percent and hangover remedies 164.4 percent.
Fried chicken chains that had opened early to capitalize on the matches are also expressing disappointment. Some locations of major franchises including BBQ and bhc had begun operating from early morning to coincide with the 10 a.m. kickoff of the South Africa match. During the second group-stage match against Mexico, BBQ's nationwide store sales as of 1 p.m. were 4.5 times higher than usual. The chain's Euljiro Ipgu branch received a group reservation of 110 people and more than 40 takeout orders. At bhc's stores in major commercial districts, more than 100 advance orders were placed, with some locations recording more than 600 pre-orders.
![A convenience store near Gwanghwamun Square in Jongno-gu, Seoul, is packed with customers on June 25, when South Korea played South Africa in their Group A third-round match at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America. [Yonhap]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/06/30/rcv.YNA.20260625.PYH2026062515580001300_P1.jpg)
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