Belgium's Draw with Egypt Highlights Crypto's Growing Presence at FIFA

Belgium's national team scored a crucial draw against Egypt in their World Cup Group G opener on June 15, with Romelu Lukaku's introduction sparking a second-half comeback. The match came just days after Kraken became the first crypto exchange to secure an official FIFA World Cup sponsorship.

Belgium trailed 0-1 at halftime but leveled proceedings at 1-1 when Lukaku entered as a substitute in the 66th minute, shortly before Egypt conceded an own goal. The match arrived less than two weeks after Belgium's national team launched its own fan token, $BELG.

Chiliz launched $BELG on June 3-4 through a Fan Token Offering on its Socios.com platform, making 2 million tokens available at $1.00 each. The token gives holders voting rights on minor team decisions and access to exclusive content.

Kraken's sponsorship deal reaches the roughly 5 billion people who watch the World Cup, as per FIFA's own viewership figures from 2022. This exposure could be a significant boon for fan tokens, which saw sharp volume spikes during the 2022 World Cup that correlated directly with match results.