The Secta Corporate World Cup: companies drawn as nations, one trophy

A World Cup for companies

It started in 2022 with 16 teams at Shoreditch Powerleague, a tournament built to run alongside the real World Cup, with companies drawn as nations. It has since grown into the biggest thing Secta runs, played across London with one trophy at the end of it.

The draw is the part that makes it work. Being handed a country rather than just a fixture list gives people something to rally around from day one, kits, flags, group-stage permutations argued over in Slack. It turns a football tournament into something the whole office follows, including the people who never lace up.

Built to be followed, not just played

Content is central rather than an afterthought. Every match week is filmed and cut, so results, highlights and the inevitable controversies land while the group stage is still live. That is what pulls in the wider company, colleagues who aren't playing still watch, still have opinions, and still turn up to the knockout rounds.

The stated aim behind all of it is simpler than the scale suggests: improve workplace wellness and give people a reason to build connections with the colleagues they'd otherwise only meet in a calendar invite. Forty minutes a week to forget about work does more for a team than most away days.

How it ran

Secta handled the draw, fixtures, venues, referees and the full content operation across the tournament. Companies entered a squad and turned up.