BBC and ITV secure World Cup rights

The BBC and ITV have extend their uninterrupted live coverage of the FIFA World Cup in the UK to 17 editions after securing rights to the next two men’s tournaments.

The public broadcaster and commercial network has announced that they will share rights to the 2026 World Cup in USA, Canada and Mexico and 2030 World Cup in Morocco, Spain and Portugal (where the opening three matches will be played in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay).

The two broadcasters will share the rights equally, splitting matches between them, with both showing the finals.

Match picks for the 2026 tournament, which will be the biggest on record with 48 will be made after the World Cup draw.

FIFA launched invitations to tender for UK media rights to the 2026 and 2030 World Cups in early April, with a deadline of April 29 set for first-round bids.

There is little competition for the rights given the World Cup must be shown on free-to-air television in the UK as it is granted ‘listed event’ status. As such, the BBC and ITV have covered every edition of the World Cup since 1966, which was hosted and won by England. In 2013, FIFA and UEFA failed in their challenge at the European General Court against the UK protection for all matches at the men’s World Cup and European Championship.

The BBC and ITV acquired rights to the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which took place in Russia and Qatar respectively, back in June 2014 ahead of the start of that year’s tournament in Brazil.

As has been customary in recent World Cups, both the BBC and ITV will use their full range of platforms to cover the matches in 2026 and 2030. That is increasingly necessary this time around given the increase in inventory, from 64 to 104 matches.

The BBC will show games across its main channels, iPlayer streaming service and website, with live radio commentary also on offer, while ITV will carry the action on its ITV1 and ITV4 channels, ITVX streaming platform and ITV Sport website.

As well as the World Cup, the BBC and ITV have a deal in place to share rights to the UEFA European Championship until the 2028 tournament, which will take place in the UK and Ireland. Earlier this year, they secured rights to the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 in Switzerland through a deal with the European Broadcasting Union that spans 34 territories.

The two broadcasters posted strong viewership figures for the last men’s World Cup, in Qatar in 2022, which saw England fall at the quarter-final stage to France. ITV claimed its best Saturday night on record for the quarter-final, with its coverage peaking at 23 million viewers. ITV also claimed a peak audience of 20.4 million viewers during its coverage of England’s round of 16 victory over Senegal.

Niall Sloane, ITV director of sport, said today: “The World Cup always delivers some of the most memorable, historic and exciting moments in the sporting calendar and we are pleased to display the finest footballing action to the widest possible audience.”

His BBC counterpart Alex Kay-Jelski added: “Securing these iconic tournaments means BBC Sport is once again bringing people together for the biggest sporting moments. The World Cup is magical, something the whole planet stops to experience, and we can’t wait to show it to audiences across all platforms.”