Celine Dept's Rise: How YouTube Shorts and the 2026 World Cup Amplified Her Reach

Celine Dept is a Belgian footballer and YouTube content creator. For the week of July 12, 2026, her channel ranked as the most-viewed globally, generating over 1.1 billion weekly views by publishing soccer challenges and videos with football legends.

Her growth is tied to YouTube Shorts, which accounted for 94% of her 3.56 billion views in the 28 days leading up to that week. That concentration illustrates how short-form video has become a primary discovery layer for sports content on the platform. Shorts now generate over 200 billion daily views globally (an increase of over 185% from 2023), and the improved monetisation model, with RPMs averaging between 1 and 6 cents, though high-value niches can reach up to 25 cents, makes World Cup-themed short-form output especially valuable for creators.

Dept’s performance coincides with FIFA’s formal partnership with YouTube and 25 creators for the 2026 World Cup. This collaboration produced over 1 billion views from partnered creators in the tournament’s first two weeks. As the World Cup concludes, the broader YouTube landscape is expected to tilt back toward gaming content, but Dept’s moment underscores how creator-driven, short-form sports coverage can rival traditional broadcast models for audience attention.