The World Cup Cocktails

Nothing says football likes beers at the pub.. But what about trying something a little different this World Cup? We’ve matched six of the tournament’s biggest stars with cocktails that capture their unique styles and personalities. And that is cocktails worth trying! Let’s kick off the World Cup in style.

The Old Fashioned is the oldest cocktail in the book, and Messi is the oldest argument in football — both settled long ago, both still producing moments that make you forget everything you thought you knew. Three ingredients, no garnish required, no flash. Just precision, patience, and the quiet confidence of someone who has nothing left to prove but keeps proving it anyway. Fun fact: the Old Fashioned was originally just called "a whiskey cocktail" — the word "old-fashioned" was added by purists who refused to modernise. Messi would understand.

Equal parts everything, perfectly balanced — on paper. In practice, the Negroni is bitter, intense, and impossible to ignore. You either love it or you spend your evening talking about why you do not. It is red, dramatic, and has been the centre of attention for over a century. Sound familiar? Ronaldo does not blend into a team; he defines it. The Negroni does not blend into a menu; it dominates it. Both demand your full attention, and both deliver exactly what they promise.

Named after a First World War artillery gun because of its explosive kick, the French 75 is champagne, gin, lemon, and sugar — elegant, fast, and deceptively powerful. It is the only cocktail on this list that arrives with bubbles, which is fitting because Mbappé is the only player who genuinely looks like he is running on champagne. French by birth, explosive by nature, and somehow still accelerating. Fun fact: the French 75 was banned at some Parisian bars in the 1920s because patrons kept underestimating its strength. Defenders have been making the same mistake about Mbappé since 2015.

Brazil's national drink and Brazil's most recognisable football export share the same DNA: technically brilliant, visually spectacular, and occasionally frustrating when the execution does not match the ambition. The Caipirinha is cachaça, lime, and sugar — simple ingredients that become extraordinary in the right hands. Neymar's step-overs are the cocktail equivalent of a perfectly muddled lime: unnecessary to the result, but impossible to look away from. Both are best enjoyed without overthinking.

Strong, smooth, and carrying a maturity that makes you check the birth certificate twice. The Whiskey Sour is bourbon, lemon, and sugar — three ingredients that demand quality because there is nowhere to hide. Bellingham plays midfield with the same transparency: every pass, every tackle, every sprint is visible and accountable. Add the egg white for the silky foam and you have a drink that looks older than it is. Just like Jude.

A tiki drink that looks like a holiday and hits like a collision. Dark rum, Campari, pineapple, lime, and sugar — tropical colours, deceptive power, and a finish that lingers longer than you expected. Haaland is the Viking in flip-flops: he arrives smiling, scores with mechanical efficiency, and leaves defenders wondering what just happened. The Jungle Bird does the same to your palate. Fun fact: the Jungle Bird was invented in 1978 at the Kuala Lumpur Hilton, which means it is exactly as old as Haaland's goal-scoring records feel — simultaneously brand new and already legendary.