FIFA World Cup 2026™ media access made easier with Agentforce

Keeping the world's press moving

To help media partners cover the tournament with less delay, FIFA deployed two Agentforce agents: one to answer questions 24/7 and another to assist the accreditation process.

Self-service agent Charlie answers questions from journalists and broadcasters about tournament operations, media relations, accreditation, and press resources ahead of match day within the existing FIFA Media Hub. A photographer can simply ask, "What documents do I need for my FIFA World Cup 2026™ registration?" or "How do I obtain a press kit?" and receive an answer instantly.

“Our goal with Charlie was to significantly simplify the way we interact with the media,” said Tito Suarez Diaz, Head of Products and Business Engagement. “We used to handle thousands of emails. It got complicated for everyone.”

To simplify FIFA World Cup 2026™ tournament registration, FIFA embedded the media accreditation agent into the existing application process. Journalists continue to apply though their approved FIFA Media Hub account, but instead of waiting in a backlog for a team member, Agentforce goes to work immediately. It reviews submitted documents, verifies applicant IDs, and gathers their information. Agentforce assists FIFA's Media Operations Team with applicant screening, translation, and drafting responses before a FIFA team member reviews the application and makes the final decision.

Trusted context behind interactions

Data 360 provides the trusted context behind every Agentforce interaction. It grounds both the media FAQ agent and media accreditation agent using journalist profiles, ID documents, organization affiliations, and case records from Service Cloud, along with knowledge articles from the Agentforce Data Library. Data 360 also brings in structured data, like player performance metrics and fan engagement data from Snowflake via zero copy, and department-level operational data connected through custom APIs.

When journalists start a chat in the FIFA Media Hub, Salesforce Omni-Channel automatically invokes agent Charlie. Agentforce answers using only approved knowledge articles and asks follow-up questions when it needs to clarify intent. If the answer isn't in FIFA's knowledge base, Charlie directs the user to the appropriate resource or web form rather than guessing.

The media accreditation agent works within the same workflow. A custom-built intelligent document processing (IDP) tool extracts information from the applicant’s uploaded documents, then Agentforce validates the data, evaluates the application against approval criteria defined by FIFA's Media Operations Team, and even translates if needed. Applications that meet all criteria are instantly routed to employees for review.

If a media partner later replies to a previously closed case — for example, to ask why their application was rejected — an Apex trigger automatically reopens the case in Service Cloud with the application history, supporting documents, and related context so employees can review the exception without starting over.

Results before kickoff

Agentforce was ready before the opening whistle. After going live 2 months before the opening match, the FAQ agent supported journalists, broadcasters, photographers, and more, throughout the FIFA World Cup 2026™, handling more than 3,600 chat sessions in its first 45 days. By answering common questions instantly, in that same 45-day period, the agent achieved an 85% deflection rate and recovered an estimated 1,000 service rep hours.

“We implemented headless agents that can answer media questions — just like our employees — but without the back and forth,” said Diaz. “The interactions are just as meaningful, they’re just also now immediate.”

The media accreditation agent also delivered impactful results. It helped the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Media Operations Team clear a backlog of 5,000 accreditation cases in 3 weeks and reduced manual data entry, allowing FIFA's Media Operations Team to spend more time supporting journalists and broadcasters covering the world's biggest sporting event.

Billions of fans, one experience

Agentforce for the FIFA World Cup 2026™ tournament’s media is just the beginning. “We’re already in discussion with Salesforce on what innovation we can bring,” said Nacho Fresco, Director of Technology. “Now we’re focused on how we can use Agentforce to improve experiences and personalization to the fans.”

For the FIFA Women's World Cup 2027™, FIFA plans to expand Agentforce to create personalized fan experiences for the more than 2 billion viewers expected to follow the tournament around the world.

Fans could ask where to find their stadium entrance, check kickoff times, or look up a favorite player's match history. Instead of searching through menus or browsing webpages, they will simply ask a question in the FIFA app and receive answers in natural language.

“They don’t care about the AI in the background,” Fresco said. “They’re just chatting on their FIFA app. That's the beauty of it, right? They have information right at their fingertips — and can stay focused on the beautiful game.”