FIFA closed a historic agreement with YouTube for the 2026 World Cup

With the 2026 World Cup just around the corner, FIFA announced a strategic agreement with YouTube that aims to change the way the tournament will be consumed. The alliance places the Google application as the preferred platform and seeks to expand the global reach of competition and adapt to new digital dynamics, with more content available and greater interaction with fans

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The agreement will allow audiovisual rights holders to use their official channels on the platform to broadcast expanded summaries, unpublished images, clips and content on demand. As a major innovation, for the first time in the history of the World Cup, the first ten minutes of each match can be broadcast live on YouTube

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In addition, in some regions, the possibility of broadcasting full matches is being evaluated, which would mark a significant change in the traditional distribution of the event. The initiative also includes the publication of premium content on official channels, both FIFA and broadcasters, and the participation of content creators, who will have access to produce exclusive material, from human stories to

tactical analysis.

Another axis of the agreement will be the use of the organization's historical archive. Users will be able to access full games from previous editions and emblematic moments of the tournament, with the aim of generating expectation in the preview and maintaining interest during the

competition.

The Secretary General of FIFA, Mattias Grafström, highlighted the impact of the alliance in the current context: “The collaboration with YouTube consolidates our objective of boosting the impact of the competition on the changing media landscape, in order to offer fans around the world an accessible and immersive vision of the largest single-discipline sports competition in history.”

From the platform, its global vice president of Media and Sports, Justin Connolly, remarked that the objective is to provide an experience "global, interactive and adapted to fans “, with a special focus on new generations.

Recently, FIFA had already announced another important agreement with TikTok to make it the tournament's preferred platform and that audiovisual rights holders can also broadcast live moments of the matches on that social network

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The initiative joins other recent digital alliances and reinforces FIFA's strategy to expand its presence on online platforms ahead of the next World Cup.