Every four years the World Cup turns the planet into a single, screaming stadium. And every four years the airlines that fly the fans — and the teams — show up in costume.

The 2026 tournament, spread across the United States, Mexico and Canada, has set off the biggest stampede of special liveries in years. Trophies on tailfins, national flags down the fuselage, paint jobs that exist for one summer and then quietly go back to normal. Here is who dressed up.

Qatar Airways: the official carrier flexes

As FIFA’s official airline, Qatar Airways was never going to do this quietly. It rolled out a Boeing 777-300ER carrying the World Cup trophy on a tail that blends Qatar’s maroon-and-white with a sweep of blue — and paired it with a bespoke onboard experience for the tournament. The jet is being sent across Europe, the U.S. and Asia so as many people as possible can see it.

If the scheme looks familiar, that’s because Qatar has done this before — it painted a 777 for the 2022 World Cup it hosted, and has revived the idea for 2026.

America suits up at home

With the final being played in the New York area, the U.S. carriers leaned in. American Airlines — partnering with Qatar — unveiled a World Cup livery on a Boeing 737-800, registration N844NN, debuting it in Miami. United went the patriotic route with a “Stars and Stripes” 737 that entered service mid-June, wearing the flag on a fuselage that needs no translation.

National pride, on the tail

The teams themselves travelled in style. Avianca flew Colombia’s squad on an Airbus A320neo with the national emblem on the tail, and later on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Iberia and Aerolíneas Argentinas joined the parade with their own tournament schemes — because nothing says “we believe” quite like committing the marketing budget to aircraft paint.

It is, when you think about it, a wonderfully analogue gesture in a digital age. You can’t scroll past a 65-metre aeroplane. A special livery is a billboard that lands at 250 km/h, taxis past every gate, and gets photographed by every plane-spotter on the perimeter fence.

Enjoy them while they last

That’s the bittersweet charm of a tournament livery: it is gloriously temporary. Within months the trophies will be sanded off, the flags painted over, and the jets returned to their everyday clothes. But for one summer, the busiest skies on Earth turn into a flying parade — and the fans get to look up and see the party before they’ve even reached the stadium.

Sources: AeroTime; Flightradar24; Qatar Airways Newsroom; American Airlines Newsroom; Travel And Tour World