Digital‑first coverage reshapes fan expectations
The 2026 World Cup will be the first edition co‑hosted by three nations, the United States, Mexico and Canada, and it is already reshaping how the tournament reaches fans.
In Brazil, the streaming service CazéTV has secured exclusive rights to broadcast all 104 matches, a deal that grew out of a successful trial during the 2022 Qatar tournament, while the traditional broadcaster Globo will air 55 games on linear television.
LiveMode, the venture co‑founded by football icon Cristiano Ronaldo, will contribute a daily live‑mode broadcast, offering one match per day with interactive overlays that aim to deepen viewer involvement.
FIFA has also struck agreements with YouTube and TikTok, allowing selected rights‑holders to stream the opening ten minutes of each game on those platforms, a move designed to capture short‑form attention spans while still driving traffic to official feeds.
The governing body points to the 2022 edition, which generated five billion total engagements, with 2.7 billion coming from digital and streaming services, as evidence that the upcoming tournament will set new records for online viewership.
Meanwhile, Netflix has already locked in U.S. rights to the Women’s World Cup for 2027 and 2031, signalling a broader strategy of securing high‑profile women's football content for its streaming catalogue.