Statement: Men’s FIFA World Cup Finals Tournament 2026 and 2030

Statement published 4 June 2026

Ofcom has given its consent to the BBC and ITV to broadcast exclusive live coverage of the Men’s FIFA World Cup Finals Tournaments in 2026 and 2030.

We consulted between 23 April and 21 May 2026 on requests from the BBC and ITV for consent to broadcast exclusive live coverage of the Men’s FIFA World Cup Finals Tournaments in 2026 and 2030 (“the Tournaments”). The 2026 Tournament is due to take place in the USA, Canada and Mexico from Thursday 11 June until Sunday 19 July. The 2030 Tournament is due to take place primarily in Morocco, Portugal and Spain, from Saturday 8 June until Sunday 21 July 2030.

The FIFA World Cup Finals Tournament is designated as a Group A listed event for the purposes of the listed events regime set out in the Broadcasting Act 1996. While the Media Act 2024 will update this regime, the changes do not affect rights acquired before the changes come into force (which we expect to happen later this year).  The requests therefore fall to be considered under the existing regime, and Ofcom’s consent is required for exclusive live coverage of listed events.[1]

The BBC and ITV plan to share coverage of the 2026 Tournament, with each broadcasting half of the 104 matches, and both broadcasters showing the final.  

The BBC plans to broadcast live coverage of its matches on BBC One or BBC Two. It has also indicated that, in limited and unforeseen scheduling circumstances, some matches may be shown on BBC Three or BBC Four. The BBC has also acquired the rights to broadcast live radio coverage of the Tournament.

ITV plans to broadcast live coverage of most of its matches on ITV1, with this also being shown on STV in northern and central Scotland. It also plans to broadcast a small number of matches on ITV4 where there are scheduling clashes.^[2]

It has also been announced that FIFA has permitted the BBC and ITV to stream five matches in full, and the first ten minutes of every game, on their YouTube channels.

For the 2030 Tournament, the BBC and ITV have indicated that they anticipate similar match sharing and coverage arrangements to those proposed for 2026 and have requested Ofcom’s consent to broadcast live coverage on that basis, on the understanding that any material changes may require further consideration by Ofcom. While the format and details of the 2030 Tournament have not yet been finalised, Ofcom expects the broadcasters to notify us of any significant changes to the structure of the 2030 Tournament or their coverage plans.

Our consultation explained that we were minded to grant consent to the BBC and ITV. We did not receive any responses to our consultation, and therefore remain of the view that broadcasters of both “qualifying” and “non-qualifying” services (for the purposes of the Broadcasting Act 1996) had an opportunity to acquire the rights to live coverage of the Tournaments on fair and reasonable terms.

We have therefore decided to grant consent to the BBC and ITV to broadcast exclusive live coverage of the Tournaments, noting that the BBC and ITV’s plans secure that live coverage of the Tournaments will be available for free to audiences across the UK.

[1] The Media Act 2024 updated the listed events regime set out in the Broadcasting Act 1996. We expect these changes to be brought into force later this year (and recently published a statement in connection with the implementation of those changes). However, section 25(1) of the Media Act provides that its relevant amendments do not affect the exercise of rights acquired under a contract entered into before the changes come into force. The BBC and ITV’s requests therefore fall to be considered under the existing listed events regime and the current Code on Sports and Listed and Designated Events. The existing regime effectively applies to linear television channels.

[2] ITV applied on behalf of the Channel 3 licensees and the licensees for ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4 for consent to show coverage on these channels. The Channel 3 licensees are ITV Broadcasting Limited, ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited, UTV Limited, STV Central Limited and STV North Limited. The licensee for ITV2 and ITV4 is ITV2 Limited. The licensee for ITV3 is ITV Digital Channels Limited.