The 2026 World Cup, read through strategy frameworks
The first 48-team World Cup is playing out across the USA, Canada, and Mexico — and the coverage is all about the football. This series asks the other question: how do the organisations behind the game actually grow? Each piece takes one real football organisation and one strategy framework, with real numbers and sources.
Real Madrid Porter's Five Forces: the Super League play
A Porter's Five Forces analysis of Real Madrid's business model — why the world's richest club (€1.185bn) is rebuilding the Bernabéu and suing UEFA, read as a textbook industry-structure play.
PSG McKinsey 7S: the post-Mbappé team-first reset
A McKinsey 7S analysis of Paris Saint-Germain — how QSI's club finally won the Champions League by realigning the soft elements (style, staff, shared values), not by spending more.
Manchester City Ansoff Matrix: the multi-club growth bet
A worked Ansoff Matrix of Manchester City and City Football Group — how a 13-club, five-continent network is a textbook Market Development engine, read at the 2026 World Cup moment.
FIFA Ansoff Matrix 2026: the World Cup growth bet
A worked Ansoff Matrix of FIFA's growth strategy, pegged to the first 48-team World Cup kickoff (June 11, 2026) and its four-quadrant portfolio of bets.
FC Barcelona BCG Matrix: the economic levers gamble
A BCG Matrix analysis of FC Barcelona — how a club with elite assets but a broken cash engine sold its Question Marks and mortgaged its Cash Cow to survive, and bet the rebuilt Camp Nou rebuilds it.
Organisations in this series
Jump to a club or organisation hub. Hubs without an analysis yet are being written — check back as the series grows.