World Cup Challenge 2026

Welcome to the World Cup Challenge 2026, a RPF event for football fans! Prompts ⚽ FAQs ⚽ Ao3

[worldcupchallenge]

Welcome to World Cup Challenge 2026!

World Cup Challenge 2026 is a football RPF prompt challenge to encourage and inspire football fans to create fanworks during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Creatives and football fans are encouraged to use the prompt list provided to write fanfics, create GIFs and art, and make other works about their national teams and favorite players. 

Submissions begin June 14th, 2026 and end July 25th, 2026.

The challenge is broken down into six weeks. Each week has seven prompts: six words and one dialogue prompt. The challenge is to use the prompt in your work. You can create a work per day (each word/phrase corresponding with each day of the tournament) or you can create a work per week (using one or more of that week's prompts).

After you create your work, post onto Tumblr and/or Ao3, and tag @worldcupchallenge or #WorldCupChallenge2026, and we will reblog/share your work here!

If you have any questions, check our FAQs. Our askbox is open for further questions about how the challenge works or what the prompts mean.

Prompts:

Week One: Qualifying (June 14th - June 20th): Call up, Transfer window, Host Nation, Qualify, Home/Home base, Fan signing, “I’ve never seen/heard/tasted/felt that before.”

Week Two: Group Stage (June 21st - June 27th): Points, Yellow card, Hat trick, Striker, Handball, Kit/Uniform/Jersey, “Please don’t put that on social media.”

Week Three: Round of 16 (June 28th - July 4th): Park the Bus, Top bins, Clean sheet, Defender, Pitch invasion, The beautiful game, “[Player name] has just broken [record].”

Week Four: Quarter Finals (July 5th - July 11th): Red card, Corners, Offside, Midfielder, Nutmeg, The last dance, “The medical team says I can/can’t play.”

Week Five: Semi-Finals (July 12th - July 18th): Winger, Club vs. Country, VAR/Virtual Assistant Referee, Score, Tradition, Rivalry as old as time, “Today isn’t just about winning.”

Week Six: Final (July 19th - July 25th): Golden boot/glove, Winner/Loser, Penalty shootout, Panenka, Trophy, Champions of the World, “Win, lose, draw: it’s you and me.”

Optional/Bonus Prompts: (Can be swapped with any prompt)!

[Player does a special/meaningful celebration]

Goalkeeper

“Now what?”

Locker room/dressing room

“Don’t let them see you cry. Because today, we didn’t lose.”

Quick Guidelines:

Some prompts are vague to give creative freedom. Others are specific to help guide creatives. You do not have to take them literally, and you can interpret the prompts however you like!

There is no word minimum or maximum.

There is no submission limit.

There are no content restrictions. SFW/NSFW works, reader inserts, are allowed.

You can write about a previous world cup!

We are not associated with FIFA.

⚽ What is World Cup Challenge 2026? ⚽ Prompts ⚽ FAQs ⚽ Ask ⚽ Ao3 ⚽

[worldcupchallenge]

do you accept late submissions?? I just found out about this event 😭

Yes, we accept late submissions! There are no hard deadlines when it comes to the weekly prompts.

⚽ What is World Cup Challenge 2026? ⚽ Prompts ⚽ FAQs ⚽ Ask ⚽ Ao3 ⚽

[obviously0bsessed]

so proud

week one: qualifying - "call up"

@worldcupchallenge

[agardenofbasil]

@petalnanya witnessed me losing my head over the World Cup and decided to blow me away with her beautiful artwork. And while she just sent it via message, I can't gatekeep her talent all for myself. So I am publicly singing my praises for her. Thank you for my new header (and for being the first submission for World Cup Challenge 2026) my dear friend. 🖤💛💚

[worldcupchallenge]

Week One of the World Cup Challenge 2026 begins Today!

The first matches of the group stage have begun, but for this week, let's go back in time. Your favorite player got the call up: or didn't. Your homeland will play its first World Cup, after a long absence, or maybe its first, ever. Your team is exploring their temporary home for next month. What could possibly go wrong? And more importantly, what could go right?

Week One: Qualifying is ripe with possibilities: discovering local cuisine and customs, feeling homesick, fan signings and press conferences, fighting jet lag (or each other), training camp pranks, and more. Whether you're writing about your favorites stuck together in the last available hotel room or the heartbreak of Italy not qualifying, we hope these prompts spark your creative fire. Happy creating!

You can submit your work by:

Posting to our Ao3 Collection. (Read the Ao3 instructions on how)

Tag us directly on your post: @worldcupchallenge

Use our event tag: #WorldCupChallenge2026

Via Ask box or direct message.

All submissions will be reblogged here!

⚽ What is World Cup Challenge 2026? ⚽ Prompts ⚽ FAQs ⚽ Ask ⚽ Ao3 ⚽

[worldcupchallenge]

Week One of the World Cup Challenge 2026 begins Today!

The first matches of the group stage have begun, but for this week, let's go back in time. Your favorite player got the call up: or didn't. Your homeland will play its first World Cup, after a long absence, or maybe its first, ever. Your team is exploring their temporary home for next month. What could possibly go wrong? And more importantly, what could go right?

Week One: Qualifying is ripe with possibilities: discovering local cuisine and customs, feeling homesick, fan signings and press conferences, fighting jet lag (or each other), training camp pranks, and more. Whether you're writing about your favorites stuck together in the last available hotel room or the heartbreak of Italy not qualifying, we hope these prompts spark your creative fire. Happy creating!

You can submit your work by:

Posting to our Ao3 Collection. (Read the Ao3 instructions on how)

Tag us directly on your post: @worldcupchallenge

Use our event tag: #WorldCupChallenge2026

Via Ask box or direct message.

All submissions will be reblogged here!

⚽ What is World Cup Challenge 2026? ⚽ Prompts ⚽ FAQs ⚽ Ask ⚽ Ao3 ⚽

[worldcupchallenge]

Can we make something in another language? If english is not my first?

Yes, absolutely. Submissions can be in any language.

⚽ What is World Cup Challenge 2026? ⚽ Prompts ⚽ FAQs ⚽ Ask ⚽ Ao3 ⚽

[worldcupchallenge]

The 2026 World Cup Begins Today!

The time is here at last! Whether you're tuning in as a seasoned fan or a first timer, we hope the first matches of this year's World Cup go smoothly. Best of luck to today's teams!

And our Ao3 Collection is live!

While WCC26 doesn't start until June 14th, it's never too early to start writing/creating. Check out our Ao3 collection if you want to share this event with people outside of Tumblr!

⚽ What is World Cup Challenge 2026? ⚽ Prompts ⚽ FAQs ⚽ Ask ⚽ Ao3 ⚽