Chinese Intangible Heritage Shines at 2026 World Cup

For the first time in the nearly 100-year history of the FIFA World Cup, traditional Chinese handicrafts have been integrated into officially licensed product lines. Three young artisans from rural Chinese counties — born after 1990 — have brought their ancestral crafts to the global stage through a landmark initiative called “Intangible Heritage Meets the World Cup” (非遗遇见世界杯), as reported by People’s Daily.

A Historic First for World Cup Merchandise

The project, launched on April 14, 2026, at Beijing’s Guanzhong Museum, was organized by Hangzhou Fude Brand Management Co., Ltd., the FIFA-authorized general licensee for the Greater China region for the 2026 World Cup. According to Xinhua News Agency, the initiative invited multiple Chinese intangible cultural heritage (ICH) inheritors to create officially licensed products incorporating World Cup visual elements, mascots, and the FIFA World Cup Trophy.

This marks the first time in World Cup history that traditional Chinese crafts have been integrated on such a scale into the official merchandise ecosystem. The broader project encompasses over a dozen crafts including Yuxian paper-cutting, Miao embroidery, Yi embroidery, Zhuang brocade, Ningxia hemp weaving, Fahua ceramics, lacquer inlay, boxwood carving, inlaid porcelain, Ru ware, and Suzhou embroidery, according to Baidu Baike.

The Three Young Artisans

Gao Jia: Miniaturizing Yuxian Paper-Cutting

Gao Jia, a post-95 third-generation inheritor of Gao’s Paper-cutting from Yuxian County, Hebei Province, created intricate paper-cuttings of the three World Cup mascots — a moose, a jaguar, and a bald eagle — along with the FIFA World Cup Trophy. Her products include gift-framed artworks and phone case decorations.

Gao, who studied product design and worked in e-commerce before returning to the family craft, has focused on making paper-cutting smaller and more practical for modern life. “Making paper-cutting smaller makes detailed carving harder. A small piece may take nearly as long as a large one, but I still think making small pieces is meaningful,” she told People’s Daily, which cited the original China Youth Daily report.

Qiao Lin: Reviving Fahua Ceramics

Qiao Lin, a 1992-born 29th-generation inheritor of Qiaoshi Fahua from Yangcheng County, Shanxi Province, took an unusual path to her ancestral craft. After studying actuarial science at Binghamton University in New York, she discovered an ancestral Fahua piece at the Metropolitan Museum of Art — a moment that inspired her to return to China and save the family ceramics factory from closure.

For the World Cup, Qiao Lin created Fahua ceramic coffee cups, aromatherapy cups, and pen holders. She expanded the traditional Fahua glaze palette from just 5 colors to over 150, a breakthrough that made the World Cup collaboration possible. “Watching the World Cup, I think it’s all about companionship. When we make products, we think about what form they can take to accompany everyone while watching the games,” she said.

Long Yu: Modernizing Miao Embroidery

Long Yu, a post-90s inheritor from Shibing County, Guizhou Province, is the son of Long Luying, a provincial representative inheritor of Miao embroidery. After graduating from Beijing Institute of Technology and working in first-tier city enterprises, he returned to his hometown to modernize the craft.

For the World Cup, Long Yu produced hanging sachet series and collaborated with a land surfboard company to create three surfboard designs named “Huaying,” “Tage,” and “Longluan.” He has introduced industrial embroidery equipment and is developing an AI large model platform for Miao embroidery pattern design. “Combining industry with handicraft doesn’t destroy the original ecosystem; instead, it can make the market pie bigger, allowing more young people the opportunity to engage in ICH,” he explained.

Innovation Meets Tradition

A common thread among all three artisans is their willingness to innovate while preserving cultural integrity. Gao Jia created color-stamping seals and tickets based on paper-cutting designs, tapping into collector communities. Qiao Lin has collaborated with stage productions, fashion magazines, and video games to bring Fahua ceramics to new audiences. Long Yu’s AI platform can rapidly generate design proposals based on traditional Miao embroidery patterns and stitching techniques.

However, the marriage of handmade crafts with mass-market standards presents challenges. Qiao Lin noted that only about 50% of Fahua ceramics pass quality control for World Cup products due to the inherent variability of glaze firing. Gao Jia emphasized that “our core culture and elements should be respected and cannot be arbitrarily dismantled or interpreted.”

Cultural Diplomacy on the World Stage

The “Intangible Heritage Meets the World Cup” project represents a significant step in China’s cultural soft power strategy, using the world’s most-watched sporting event as a platform to showcase its diverse regional traditions. The involvement of crafts from Hebei, Shanxi, Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangxi, Ningxia, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang highlights China’s rich ethnic and regional diversity.

As Gao Jia reflected: “‘Intangible Heritage Meets the World Cup’ lets people see that ICH can collaborate in rich and varied forms, perhaps creating a foundation for many future partnerships.”

What’s Next

With the 2026 World Cup in full swing, these officially licensed products are now available through authorized channels. The long-term impact of this collaboration remains to be seen, but it has already established a precedent for how traditional Chinese crafts can engage with global popular culture. Questions remain about international consumer reception and whether this will lead to sustained partnerships between FIFA and China’s intangible cultural heritage sector beyond 2026.