Football and Anti-migration Sentiment: Evidence from the FIFA World CupISER External Seminars

Natives are often misinformed about immigrants’ characteristics, underestimating the positive potential labor market impacts of their presence and overestimating the cultural differences between both. We investigate if the over-performance of high-migrant football national teams is able to affect migrant perception. Comparing respondents interviewed shortly before with others interviewed shortly after a match, we show that victories in qualifying matches for high-stakes international competitions are associated with significantly more positive feelings toward non-E.U. migrants for women. Using a triple difference methodology, we show that high-migrant over-performers experienced a significant increase in positive feelings towards non-E.U. migrants post 2018 FIFA world cup. In both cases, we do not observe any increase in proxies for national pride or views of E.U. migrants.

Presented by:

Giuseppe Ippedico (University of Nottingham)

Date & time:

December 10, 2025 12:30 pm - December 10, 2025 1:30 pm

Venue:

Online


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