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Sports November 9, 2022
Vinciane Ngomsi
Vinciane Ngomsi

Upland & FIFA Announce Metaverse Experience Partnership for World Cup

Last Updated: November 17, 2022
The partnership allows Web3-curious supporters to own real-world moments from this year’s tournament in Qatar.

Soccer fans with a curiosity for Web3 will soon be able to experience the best of both worlds. Upland and FIFA announced a multi-year partnership on Wednesday that officially begins later this month at the World Cup in Qatar. A first for both sides, this union allows football fans worldwide to collect, trade, and own FIFA digital assets and game highlights, embracing a joint objective to help them grasp how the metaverse and Web3 function.

Over the course of this collab, Upland and FIFA will jointly develop exciting, gamified experiences in the largest open metaverse mapped to the real world. For the World Cup, over 3 million accounts will gain access to a fully constructed virtual replica of the Lusail Stadium alongside a World Cup branded village, shops, and showrooms. Upland also has plans to offer a collection game for supporters, with a limited number of mystery bundles at multiple rarities available. These offers include country-specific team crests, boots, shirts and retro logos, posters, and mascots so that users can complete digital collector’s albums across all 32 nations represented in this year’s tournament.

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“No other world competition unites countries and people worldwide quite like the FIFA World Cup,” Upland Co-Founder and Co-CEO Dirk Lueth said. “We’re excited to create a multi-touch web3 experience showcasing fun, innovation, entrepreneurialism, and community as the first of many opportunities in the future of FIFA World Cups, where fans can now collect, own, and share a real moment in history.”

Completing a collection will be to a user’s benefit, as those with the highest scores will win prizes like, for example, the Lusail Stadium as virtual property in the metaverse. Other added perks include chances to acquire the most talked about moments of the World Cup, including but not limited to game highlights that cannot be purchased directly from Upland.   

Upland boasts 22 world cities on its digital platform, and fans can begin their adventure into the metaverse by obtaining and trading virtual properties that are based on real world addresses. In addition to proudly showing off individual country flags and decor in their digital spaces, audiences also have the chance to become metaverse entrepreneurs, running shops to sell their accumulated assets to other players.

The World Cup begins Sunday, Nov. 20 when host nation Qatar take on Ecuador at 11 a.m. EST. The final match is scheduled for Dec. 18 at 10 a.m. from Lusail Stadium. Users can download Upland for free on iOS, Android, and the web, and it is accessible to play from anywhere in the world. 

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Vinciane Ngomsi

Vinciane Ngomsi is a Staff Writer at Boardroom. She began her career in sports journalism with bylines at SB Nation, USA Today, and most recently Yahoo. She received a bachelor's degree in Political Science from Truman State University, and when she's not watching old clips of Serena Williams' best matches, she is likely perfecting her signature chocolate chip cookie recipe or preparing a traditional Cameroonian meal.

soccerWorld CupMetaverseWeb32022 FIFA World Cup
About The Author
Vinciane Ngomsi
Vinciane Ngomsi
Vinciane Ngomsi
Vinciane Ngomsi is a Staff Writer at Boardroom. She began her career in sports journalism with bylines at SB Nation, USA Today, and most recently Yahoo. She received a bachelor's degree in Political Science from Truman State University, and when she's not watching old clips of Serena Williams' best matches, she is likely perfecting her signature chocolate chip cookie recipe or preparing a traditional Cameroonian meal.