Fans in India relieved as this broadcaster closes in on World Cup deal with FIFA

Football fans in India can finally watch the 2026 FIFA World Cup live on their screens. While official announcement is still awaited, Zee and FIFA are ironing out the final details of the negotiations.

If this deal happens, it will bring relief to football fans in the country who had no certainty so far and did not know if they could watch football's biggest event live in their homes.

Zee has reportedly signed a deal with FIFA to broadcast World Cup in India

With no official broadcaster in India days before the FIFA World Cup, Indian football fans were growing restless, having no clarity about the streaming details of the tournament.

After the deals with Jio Hotstar and Sony Pictures Networks fell through and government broadcaster Doordarshan also took them out of the race, Zee has come up as the last minute saviour. According to reports, the company has agreed on a deal with FIFA approximately valued at $30-35 million.

Sources suggest that the official confirmation will come in the next couple of days, putting an end to the worries of football fans in India. As per the deal, all the matches of the World Cup will be streamed across Zee's sports network, both on the television channel and the digital streaming platform, Zee5.

Zee is also making arrangements so that the coverage can be carried out in multiple Indian languages as well, making the FIFA tournament far more accessible in the country.

The last-minute broadcaster no one thought of

Zee has emerged as the unlikely broadcaster for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The network is not famous for sports broadcasting. However, recently, they have launched four sports channels namely, Unite8 Sports 2 and Unite8 Sports 2 HD in English and for Hindi, Unite8 Sports 1 and Unite8 Sports 1 HD.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is days away, scheduled to begin on June 11, 2026. With the tournament being hosted jointly by Mexico, Canada and the United States, the match timings will all be between midnight and early morning in India, making it a poor time slot.

This edition of the World Cup is historic. In an enlarged format, 48 teams will be competing for the first time ever and a total of 104 matches will be played. India has a huge football fanbase that accounts for a significant number of viewership. The statistics were hard to ignore, and so, there was no way other than broadcasting the tournament live.

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