The Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster, Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) has retained the exclusive broadcast rights in Australia to the FIFA World Cup.
The newly unveiled development includes the FIFA World Cup 2026. Since 1986, SBS has provided coverage of the FIFA matches. As a result, the 2026 World Cup will be the 40th year that SBS has carried FIFA competitions on its network.
The 104 World Cup games will be aired live by SBS on its SBS On Demand streaming tool, SBS and SBS Viceland channels.
With 48 countries, 16 more than in the group stages of the previous edition, the 2026 World Cup will have more teams than ever before, setting a record for the number of matches played at a FIFA World Cup.
James Taylor, SBS Managing Director, said, “SBS has been the home of football on Australian television for almost 40 years and we could not be more thrilled to announce that we will broadcast the 2026 tournament from North America, which will have more teams, more matches and draw more eyeballs than ever before.”
Founded in 1978 with its headquarters in Sydney, Australia, Special Broadcasting Service receives hybrid funding as more than 80 percent of the company’s funding comes from the Australian Government. SBS has seven radio networks and six television stations. SBS Online offers the video streaming service SBS On Demand.