Yiwu Merchants and the World Cup: No Guessing the Champion, Only Betting on the Next Viral Hit
「Core Tip」
Pet jerseys and football screaming chickens. Why does Yiwu turn the World Cup into an "emotion business"?
The 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico is about to kick off. With only a few days left until the tournament begins, the anticipation of football fans around the world has reached its peak. Meanwhile, Yiwu, a city in Zhejiang Province thousands of kilometers away, has been in full preparation mode since a year ago.
The World Cup-related products produced here once accounted for more than 70% of the global market share. The arrival of each World Cup is an annual business milestone for this "world supermarket."
From basic footballs, wigs, and jerseys at the beginning, to the vuvuzelas that became a global sensation during the 2010 South Africa World Cup, and now the popular "Messi GOAT" lamb keychains, when pet jerseys and creative trendy toys have replaced traditional flags, people suddenly realize that Yiwu is no longer just a low-cost mass-production factory. It starts to play with IPs, emotions, and memes.
Behind the excitement, there are more questions: How can small and medium-sized merchants without official authorization break through the copyright dilemma? Has the chronic problem of low-price competition really been cured? After the World Cup frenzy, how can Yiwu's World Cup business continue to break through and move forward?
Every World Cup frenzy is not only a booster for Yiwu's industrial upgrading but also a magnifying glass that reveals both progress and difficulties.
Beyond flags and horns, Yiwu starts to play with football "memes"
Let's rewind to 2002. That year, during the Korea-Japan World Cup, the Chinese men's national football team made its first appearance in the World Cup finals, and the whole nation was enthusiastic about football. Yiwu's merchants felt the magic of the "event economy" for the first time.
At that time, the Yiwu market mainly offered basic standard products such as classic black-and-white footballs, simple fan clothing, and various flags. The product styles were single, and functionality was prioritized. Merchants only competed in production capacity and price. Customers often found the warehouses sold out and had to rush to grab goods overnight when they came to pick up their orders.
In 2010, during the South Africa World Cup, the vuvuzelas produced in Yiwu became a hit at the stadium. More than 90% of these simple-structured plastic horns were made in Yiwu. Relying on a large number of orders and making small profits from large sales volumes, it was still a typical mass-production model.
In 2022, during the Qatar World Cup, the plush mascot "La'eeb" became popular. The products began to have a bit of cultural and creative attributes, but the mainstream categories still did not deviate from the scope of traditional fan products.
For this United States, Canada, and Mexico World Cup, the logic of Yiwu's World Cup products has started to shift towards growth points such as IP empowerment and emotional value. All kinds of creative trendy toys and cross-border products are emerging in an endless stream, completely breaking the limitations of traditional categories.
In various markets in Yiwu, cute keychains with the images of football stars, pet clothing with team themes, and creative event ornaments can be seen everywhere. Among them, the "Messi GOAT" lamb keychain has remained highly popular. This keychain combines the "GOAT (Greatest of All Time)" concept in football, integrating the colors of the Argentine team and Messi's signature into the design. With its interesting connotation and cute appearance, it has become a popular item among young consumers.
Meanwhile, the "football screaming chickens" wearing team uniforms have also gone global. Many international buyers have placed bulk orders. These lightweight creative toys break out of the framework of traditional cheering props, focusing on entertainment attributes and precisely meeting the current fans' needs for a relaxed viewing experience.
Pet-related products are also new hits in this World Cup. More and more young fans are willing to regard their pets as family members. Orders for pet jerseys, collars, and leashes with the logos of various national teams are pouring in.
Tudou, a trendy toy product selector in Yiwu, said that many fabric merchants who originally produced U-shaped pillows and ordinary plush products have quickly transformed based on their existing production lines and launched pet series products, successfully entering a new market segment. These products focus on emotional resonance and are the preferred choice for small and medium-sized merchants to engage in World Cup business.
The traditional basic categories have not disappeared and are still "must-haves" for large overseas buyers. Guangzhi, a cross-border trader, told "Bao Bian" that large quantities of traditional standard products such as jerseys, footballs, and flags related to the three host countries (the United States, Canada, and Mexico) and countries with top football stars like Argentina and Portugal (home to Messi and Ronaldo) were ordered as early as the summer of 2025.
Large overseas traders and global brand sponsors need to reserve time for sea transportation, customs clearance, and local distribution. They usually purchase tens of thousands of items for a single SKU and generally use full-container sea transportation. Their procurement is highly planned.
Now, traditional products are also quietly upgrading. Ordinary cotton jerseys have been upgraded to quick-drying fabrics, and flags are made of special waterproof and sun-resistant fabrics. Different adjustments are made according to the consumption preferences of different countries. North American customers prefer large outdoor flags, while South American customers favor colorful cheering accessories.
Facing the high official IP authorization fees and strict review rules, some cross-border merchants choose to operate on the edge of compliance, creating "borderline" creative products.
They avoid the official trademarks and patents of FIFA and football teams and use national flag colors and AI-generated abstract patterns to design daily necessities such as clothing, tablecloths, and car stickers. For example, they make short-sleeved shirts using the green and red colors of the Mexican national flag and design outdoor tablecloths with the pattern of a football field. This way, they can take advantage of the World Cup's popularity while avoiding the risk of infringement. These products have flexible designs and fast new product launches, and the market response is very sensitive.
The different needs of different purchasing groups further divide the product market segments. Large overseas buyers and brand owners focus on officially authorized products and traditional standard products, with large purchase volumes and long purchase cycles. Domestic scenic spots, boutique stores, and overseas small retailers prefer trendy toys and creative small commodities. Most of them place orders after the Spring Festival in 2026 when the World Cup atmosphere heats up. They usually purchase a variety of products in mixed batches, with the purchase volume of a single product ranging from a dozen to a few hundred pieces. Their purchasing behavior is obviously follow-the-trend.
Officially authorized products are at the top of the industrial chain, with far higher thresholds and profits.
Xiong Xiaofeng, a sports licensed dealer who has been in the industry for nearly 20 years and holds the official authorization from FIFA, opened a large official flagship store in Nanjing. He summarized the sales rules of sports event products: "Sell mascots before the event and sell trophies after the event."
In his store, a 26-centimeter 1:1 replica of the FIFA World Cup Trophy is priced at nearly 30,000 yuan and is sold in a limited global edition. More than half of the pre-orders were placed before the tournament started. The liquor jointly launched by Wuliangye and the World Cup, which has both social and commemorative attributes, has been selling well in the gift market.
Xiong Xiaofeng said that official authorization is only available to large, compliant manufacturers at the top. Most of the profits in the industrial chain are concentrated in the hands of the authorization holders and first-level dealers. It is difficult for ordinary small and medium-sized merchants to get involved. This makes the IP barrier the core standard for dividing high and low product market segments.
From foreign merchants visiting stalls to acquiring customers via mobile phones
The transformation of Yiwu's event economy channels also started with the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup.
This World Cup not only ignited the domestic passion for football but also officially kicked off the export of Yiwu's sports products. Before that, the cultural and sports products in Yiwu were not clearly divided into different areas. Most merchants "incidentally" sold some footballs, rackets, etc. Domestic and foreign customers had to go to Yiwu, visit the stalls, check the samples, and bargain to get the goods.
Orders were highly concentrated in the hands of a few large wholesalers. It was difficult for small and medium-sized merchants to directly connect with overseas customers. There was information asymmetry and low circulation efficiency. It was an era of "people looking for goods."
It was also from this World Cup that a professional sports products street gradually formed on Huangyuan Road in Yiwu. More than a hundred merchants settled here and officially started their overseas trade in sports event products.
In the following more than a decade, the model of offline stalls + physical exhibitions has long dominated the market. During the 2006 Germany World Cup, the proportion of foreign trade orders of Yiwu merchants reached 80%, and customers still mainly made on-site purchases. Foreign merchants regularly went to Yiwu every year to participate in various cross-border exhibitions, and merchants waited for customers in their stalls. The circulation model did not change much for many years. In this model, the flow of orders was clear, but there were obvious geographical limitations. Small overseas customers from remote areas found it difficult to access Yiwu's goods, and the development space of small and medium-sized merchants was also restricted.
In the past four years, the rise of overseas short-video social platforms has completely reshaped Yiwu's customer acquisition logic.
Guangzhi, a cross-border trader, deeply felt this change: Four years ago, when doing foreign trade, practitioners had to rely on search engines and overseas social accounts to actively find customers, which was time-consuming, labor-intensive, and had a low conversion rate. Now, merchants only need to shoot short videos of factory production and product displays and rely on the platform's algorithm for passive exposure. Global buyers will actively send private messages to inquire about orders after seeing the content. The model has completely changed from "people looking for goods" to "goods looking for people." The digital channels have broken the geographical barriers, allowing many small family-owned stores and small workshops to directly connect with overseas customers without relying on large wholesalers as intermediaries.
Currently, there are three different platform ecosystems in the overseas market, suitable for different types of merchants. As an established shelf e-commerce platform, Amazon, relying on years of user accumulation and platform reputation, mainly offers mid- to high-end products. The platform has a relatively high commission rate. The core operation idea of merchants is to iterate products and strictly control quality, which is suitable for large factories and brand owners with complete supply chains.
TikTok is an interest-based e-commerce platform. It drives orders through hot content. The popularity cycle of a hit product usually lasts for two to four weeks, and the average customer order value is concentrated within $30. It is a perfect fit for short-term hot events like the World Cup and has become the main battlefield for small and medium-sized sellers to create stage hits.
There is also a type of fully managed cross-border platform. Merchants only need to be responsible for production and supply, and the platform takes care of operations, logistics, and after-sales service. It is easy to operate and is very popular among small workshops and family-owned stores lacking operation capabilities.
The channel transformation has also given rise to new intermediate roles such as product selectors and regional authorized dealers, which have become the key links connecting supply and demand. Tudou, a trendy toy product selector from Yiwu, builds a personal IP on Xiaohongshu and uses her professional vision to connect with small B-side customers such as national scenic spots and cultural and creative boutique stores.
The needs of these customers are scattered and the product categories are complex. Single factories are reluctant to accept small-batch mixed orders. Tudou integrates multiple supply chains and aggregates scattered small orders into large ones, which not only reduces the procurement cost for buyers but also relieves the pressure on factories to handle scattered orders. Xiong Xiaofeng and other authorized dealers, relying on exclusive IP resources, focus on offline flagship stores and corporate gift channels, mainly offering high-value-added authorized products, and serving collectors and brand customers.
In addition to online channels, Yiwu has also built a fast logistics network. The combination of diverse logistics and new online channels has increased the circulation efficiency of Yiwu's World Cup products several times.
The World Cup is also a magnifying glass for Yiwu
Each World Cup is a magnifying glass for observing Yiwu's small commodity industry. From opening the export door with the popularity of the event in 2002 to now venturing into the global market with creativity and IPs, as the events change, Yiwu's industry has also continuously advanced. However, the long-existing shortcomings and difficulties are also exposed behind the hot orders.
Let's first talk about the most obvious change, that is, Yiwu has shifted from "simple mass production for OEM" to "driven by creativity and patents."
In the early days, World Cup products were mostly undifferentiated standardized white-label products. Merchants only competed in production capacity and low prices. Now, more and more merchants attach importance to independent design and intellectual property rights. They create original products by combining online memes and fan culture, and many creative trendy toys have become global hits.
The popularization of AI tools has also empowered design and customization. Merchants can use AI to quickly generate product renderings and printing patterns. What used to take a week for design work can now be completed in one day, and the response speed for customized orders has been greatly improved.
However, practitioners also clearly recognize that AI is only an auxiliary tool. The core human capabilities such as market sensitivity, creative inspiration, and business communication still cannot be replaced by technology.
Relying on the popularity of global top events like the World Cup, Yiwu's supply chain integration ability has also been continuously enhanced. Many leading merchants have started to deeply bind with their upstream and downstream partners. They stabilize the supply chain through long-term cooperation, equity investment, etc., to avoid being "stabbed in the back" by partners. At the same time, they integrate multi-category production capacity to provide one-stop procurement services for overseas customers, shifting from simply selling products to providing comprehensive services.
Despite the progress, there are still two chronic problems in the industry that are difficult to solve.
One is low-price competition.
Guangzhi said that whenever a new product becomes popular, a large number of counterfeits will appear in a short period. Some merchants deliberately simplify the process and use inferior raw materials to compete for orders, constantly lowering the price. The requirement of "15% lower than the lowest price of the same category on other platforms" introduced by some platforms has further intensified the vicious price war. This not only squeezes the profits of the entire industry but also damages the overseas reputation of "Made in Yiwu" over time.
The other is the risk of IP infringement.
The official authorization threshold is high, and the fees are expensive. Many small and medium-sized merchants cannot afford it. Some merchants fail to control the scale well and cross the red line of patents and copyrights in terms of patterns and logos. Eventually, they face penalties such as store closures and fund freezes. Such infringement cases are common during each World Cup.
Facing the situation of the short-term hot event's bonus fading and the intensifying industry competition, some Yiwu practitioners have started to break away from the "quick money" mindset and explore long-term development paths. For example, they rely on niche categories and personal IPs to pursue a lightweight brand strategy, accumulate loyal customers through product word-of-mouth, and avoid direct price wars. Many cross-border practitioners are gradually shifting from the more volatile C-end retail to the more stable B-end traditional foreign trade.
In the future, as intellectual property protection becomes stricter and global consumer demands become more "picky," Yiwu's merchants will have to continue to evolve in each World Cup test. Can they completely get rid of the label of "low-price competition" and find their own brand development path? The answer may be in the orders of the next World Cup.
(At the request of the interviewees, Guangzhi and Tudou in this article are both pen names.)
This article is from the WeChat official account "Bao Bian" (ID: baobiannews), written by Gao Ze and published by