Among U.S. employees planning to follow the tournament, 90% say they are likely to watch matches live during work hours, 68% are likely to delay or reschedule meetings, and 65% expect their use of AI tools to increase.

Key takeaways:

• The World Cup is coming to the workday: 90% of surveyed employees say they are likely to watch matches live during work hours, including 60% who are very likely.

• Meetings may be the first casualty: 68% say they are likely to delay, skip or reschedule work meetings to watch matches live.

• AI is becoming the catch-up plan: 65% expect their use of AI tools for work to increase during the tournament, while 49% say they would use AI to catch up faster.

• Flexibility is expected, but output still matters: 38% expect employers to allow viewing informally while work continues as normal, and 27% expect adjusted schedules.

PHILADELPHIA: New survey findings from Qlik® suggest the 2026 FIFA World Cup could become one of the first large-scale workplace stress tests of AI productivity in real time. With many matches set to commence during typical U.S. work hours, employees say they will be turning to AI tools, such as ChatGPT, Claude and Copilot to help complete routine tasks, accelerate workflows and meet deadlines despite distractions throughout the workday.

Among 2,000 U.S. employees who plan to follow or watch the tournament, 90% say they are likely to watch matches live during work hours, including 60% who say they are very likely. More than two-thirds, 68%, say they are likely to delay, skip or reschedule work meetings to watch matches live. At the same time, 65% expect their use of AI tools for work to increase during the tournament, including 33% who say their usage will increase significantly.

The findings point to a workplace contradiction: employees expect the tournament to fragment the workday, but many do not expect productivity to suffer. More than half of respondents, 53%, say their productivity or output will increase during the World Cup, while only 12% expect it to decrease. Nearly half, 49%, say they would use AI tools to catch up faster, outpacing the 41% who say they would work outside normal hours.

Key findings:

• Employees are not planning to unplug during the World Cup: In addition to the 90% likely to watch matches live during work hours, 58% say they will check scores or updates throughout the day and 54% say they will multitask while watching parts of matches. Nearly one in four respondents, 24%, say they plan to take paid time off to attend matches in person.

• AI is becoming the catch-up mechanism for disrupted workdays: To help maintain typical productivity if the World Cup interrupts their normal workday, respondents say they would use AI to draft emails or written updates faster, 38%; prioritize what needs to get done first, 38%; pull together reports or analysis more quickly, 37%; summarize meetings they missed or partly attended, 37%; and catch up on work they fell behind on, 36%.

• Employees expect flexibility, but not a free pass: More than a third of respondents, 38%, expect their employer to allow World Cup viewing during work hours while still expecting work to continue as normal. Another 27% expect their employer to actively encourage flexibility through adjusted schedules, while 15% expect active monitoring or restrictions.

• Younger workers are normalizing the tradeoff: Gen Z and Millennials are the most likely to watch matches during work hours, at 94% and 92% respectively. They are also more likely to expect their AI use to increase during the tournament, with 70% of Gen Z and 69% of Millennials saying so, compared with 56% of Gen X and 27% of Baby Boomers.

• Younger workers are more likely to believe flexibility and productivity can coexist: Gen Z employees are the most likely to expect their productivity or output to increase during the World Cup, at 64%, followed by Millennials at 55%, Gen X at 46% and Baby Boomers at 14%. This suggests younger workers are less likely to see flexibility and productivity as opposing forces.

• AI adoption remains uneven: While many workers expect to increase their AI usage, one-third, 33%, say their usage will stay the same. Another 10% say they would not use AI for any work tasks, even if the World Cup interrupted their workday. The gap points to continued differences in comfort, trust and integration of AI across the workforce.

"The World Cup landing in North America isn't just a cultural moment, it's one of the first large-scale, predictable tests of whether AI can actually protect productivity when the workday gets disrupted," said James Fisher, Chief Strategy Officer at Qlik. "Employees are already planning to use it to catch up, reprioritize and keep work moving around matches. The organizations that come out ahead won't be those that police every distraction. They'll be the ones that gave their teams AI connected to the right data, embedded in real workflows, so it performs when the workday gets messy, not just under ideal conditions."

The findings arrive as businesses are working to understand how informal AI use can become reliable enterprise value. As employees adopt AI to draft, summarize, prioritize and catch up, organizations face a larger question: how to ensure that AI-assisted work is accurate, governed and grounded in the right business context.

For Qlik, this reflects a broader shift from AI as an individual productivity shortcut to AI as part of how work actually gets done day to day. The organizations that benefit most will not be those that police every distraction. They will be those that give teams trusted data, clear workflows and the ability to adapt when the workday changes.

Methodology

The research was conducted by Censuswide, among a sample of 2,000 US Respondents in employment who are planning to follow or watch the 2026 FIFA World Cup (aged 18+). The data was collected between May 11, 2026 – May 18, 2026. Censuswide is a member of the Market Research Society (MRS) and the British Polling Council (BPC), and a signatory of the Global Data Quality Pledge. We adhere to the MRS Code of Conduct and ESOMAR principles.

About Qlik

Qlik helps teams get more out of AI with data they can rely on and control. It delivers trusted data products, a powerful analytics engine, and AI agents. This helps teams reduce risk, keep operating costs in check, and scale AI responsibly as needs evolve. Used by 75% of the Fortune 500, Qlik supports customers worldwide. Qlik works with the systems and partners customers already use, so teams can stay flexible without lock-in.

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Fonte: Business Wire