It is official now, the 2026 FIFA World Cup – and upcoming editions – will be airred on Zee Entertainment Enterprise Limited’s (ZEEL) newly-launched Unite8 Sports linear TV channels in India. The 48-team competition will also be available for live streaming on Zee5.
The company announced that it will broadcast the 2026 and 2030 FIFA World Cups, the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup and other key FIFA events up to 2034, including docu-series content in the Indian market.
“Beyond these, Unite8 Sports linear TV channel will also showcase the U-17 World Cups, Women’s U-17 World Cups, U-20 World Cup, Women’s U-20 World Cup, Futsal World Cups, Futsal Women’s World Cups and the Intercontinental Cups.
FIFA had initially sought about $100 million for the India package covering the 2026 and 2030 World Cups before slashing its asking price to $60 million according to reports.
The agreement comes just 10 days before the tournament kicks off on June 11 across the United States, Canada and Mexico. India’s dominant sports broadcaster JioStar, the Reliance-Disney joint venture that aired the 2022 World Cup throu. Sony, which held rights for the 2014 and 2018 tournaments, held discussions but did not bid.gh its predecessor Viacom18 could not make it through