New “The Game Is Ours” campaign film and multi-platform activations spotlight a global mission as part of the Dove Self-Esteem Project to keep girls playing the sports they love
Dove The Game Is Ours FIFA World Cup 2026™
HOBOKEN, N.J., May 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As an official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2026™, beauty brand Dove is using one of the world’s biggest sporting stages to champion a different kind of goal: helping girls build body confidence so they can stay in the sports they love.
Dove research shows that one in two girls who quit sports are criticized for their body type, a pressure that strips away the joy of playing, and ultimately pushes them out of the game. At a moment when the world is watching, Dove is bringing this conversation to the forefront of global sports culture. Because when girls feel confident, they’re more likely to keep playing, and when their joy is louder, the game truly becomes theirs.
Today, Dove is launching a new :30 campaign film, The Game Is Ours. The FIFA World Cup 2026™ spot celebrates the power of girls in sports and what happens when their joy and confidence are allowed to shine. In The Game Is Ours, the real sounds of girls’ bodies during play become the soundtrack for the spot. As their movement and voices build, their joyful sounds cut through and drown out negative body talk – proving that their joy is louder, and that the game is theirs to play.
Beyond the screen, Dove is showing up for the girls across the 6-week tournament through a series of activations. Central to this is the Dove Joy Cam, a real-time content platform created in partnership with Getty Images. Capturing the joy girls experience at matches throughout the tournament, the initiative transforms spontaneous moments into powerful storytelling across social, digital, and out-of-home channels, placing girls at the center of the global football conversation.
Dove will also have a physical presence through Unilever’s Fresh Clubhouse, a fan experience across New York and New Jersey, Los Angeles, and Dallas. Within the multi-brand environment, Dove’s dedicated locker space brings The Game Is Ours to life through immersive storytelling, product engagement, and sampling of Dove’s limited-edition Palo Santo & Sage collection.
Dove is further reinforcing its commitment through partnerships with members of its Body Confident Collective, including soccer icon Mia Hamm and U.S. Women’s National Team standout Alyssa Thompson. Together, they represent both legacy and next-generation perspectives on confidence in sports, bringing authenticity and credibility to the campaign.
“At Dove, we believe every girl deserves to feel confident enough to keep playing the sports she loves, yet too many leave because of body confidence pressures,” said Marcela Melero, Chief Growth Marketing Officer, Dove. “As FIFA works towards its goal of having 60 million female players by 2027, this tournament and the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in 2027 give us a powerful opportunity to celebrate the joy of the game and help girls feel they belong in it. Because when girls feel confident, they’re more likely to stay in the game, and that’s what will shape the future of sports.”
Dove’s FIFA World Cup 2026™ presence builds on the 2023 launch of the Body Confident Sport program, an evidence-based initiative co-developed with leading experts, proven to strengthen body confidence among girls aged 11–17. Every Dove purchase supports the program, equipping coaches, parents, and mentors with tools to build body confidence and help girls keep playing. To date, Dove has reached more than 137 million young people globally across 150+ countries with DSEP, with a goal of reaching 250M young lives by 2030.
Watch the :30 The Game Is Ours spot HERE. Learn more about the Body Confident Sport program and how to #KeepHerConfident at Dove.com.
Media Contact:
Nimra Butt
Nimra.Butt@edelman.com
About the Dove Research
Dove commissioned this survey to expose the reality of girls’ experience in sports and the impact it has on their confidence, as well as the drivers behind girls dropping out and potential solutions.
We asked 4,917 children of different ages, ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds in Brazil, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and US to take part in a 15-minute online survey.
The study included 3,506 girls aged between 9-17 years old (approximately 500 from each country) and 1,391 boys aged 9-17 years old (approximately 200 from each country) who had the consent of a parent or legal guardian to take part.
About the Dove Self-Esteem Project
Dove is the largest self-esteem education provider in the world, offering no-cost, academically validated tools to parents, teachers, mentors, and kids for nearly two decades with the Dove Self-Esteem Project. To date, Dove has reached more than 137 million young people globally across 150+ countries with DSEP, with a goal of reaching 250M young lives by 2030.
About Dove
Dove started its life in 1957 in the US, with the launch of its iconic Beauty Bar and patented blend of mild cleansers and ¼ moisturizing cream. Dove’s heritage is rooted in care – proof, not promises grew Dove from a Beauty Bar into one of the world’s most beloved beauty brands.
Real women have always been our inspiration, and since the beginning, Dove has been wholly committed to providing superior care to all, and to championing real representations of beauty in our advertising, communications, and campaigns. Dove believes that beauty is for everyone, and the Dove mission is to ensure a positive experience with beauty is universally accessible to all.
For more than 65 years, Dove has been committed to broadening narrow definitions of beauty in the work we do. This includes the ‘Dove Real Beauty Pledge,’ and commitment to:
- Portray women as they are in real life with honesty, diversity, and respect. We feature women of different ages, sizes, ethnicities, hair color, type, and style.
- Represent individuals with zero digital distortion, with all images approved by the women they feature. This includes never using AI to alter or distort real people in our marketing, advertising or campaigns.
- Help young people build body confidence and self-esteem through the Dove Self-Esteem Project, the biggest provider of self-esteem education in the world with a goal to educate 250 million young people by 2030. © 2026 Unilever
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