World Cup Kickoff Approaching, Historical Data Sheds Light on the True Nature of the "World Cup Curse"

BlockBeats News, June 11th, Tomorrow morning, the 2026 FIFA World Cup will officially kick off. Undoubtedly, the quadrennial World Cup is a grand event for football fans, but on the other hand, investors are also concerned that the World Cup will divert market attention, potentially having a negative impact on the investment market. BlockBeats has summarized historical data and compiled the performance data of the U.S. stock market and Bitcoin during the World Cup:

U.S. Stock Market: Over the past 40 years, during the World Cup, the S&P 500 has experienced 5 gains and 5 losses, with an average return of about -0.18% and a median return of about +0.30%. There is no significant "World Cup curse" overall, but the volatility significantly decreases. In 1998, the stock market was in a strong period, with the largest increase during the matches; in 2002, during the bursting of the dot-com bubble and the financial reporting credibility crisis, the largest decrease occurred; and in 2022, the market was influenced by the Fed's interest rate hikes, inflation, and recession expectations.

Bitcoin: The performance during past World Cups has been generally weak, especially during the 2014, 2018, and 2022 World Cups, where prices mostly experienced a downward or weak fluctuation trend, showing a clear "World Cup curse" effect. Among them, 2014, 2018, and 2022 were all bear market years for Bitcoin, combined with the start of the World Cup, resulting in a noticeably weak performance for Bitcoin, with Bitcoin experiencing a maximum drawdown of about 15% in 2018.