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major football event is about to begin, and there is important news for India—FIFA and Zee Entertainment have officially signed an agreement for live broadcasting rights in India.
Along with this, Zee Entertainment has also secured agreements for the FIFA World Cup 2030 and the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027.
Information about this was shared by Zee on its official X (Twitter) account.
“‘Z’ partners with FIFA to bring 39 global football events, including FIFA World Cup 2026™, FIFA World Cup 2030™, & FIFA Women’s World Cup™ 2027 for Indian fans! ”
This news is particularly significant for India because only 10 days remain before the FIFA World Cup begins, and the broadcasting deal with Zee was finalized at the last moment.
The FIFA World Cup 2026 is set to begin on June 11. This edition of the tournament will be hosted across three countries—the United States, Canada, and Mexico—where the matches will be played.
This is going to be the biggest World Cup in history, featuring 48 teams. A total of 104 matches will be played, and the tournament will run for 39 days.
All FIFA World Cup 2026 matches will run from June 11, 2026, to July 19, 2026.
The FIFA World Cup 2026 will be hosted across three countries—the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In India, the matches can be watched at different time slots such as 12:30 AM, 3:30 AM, 6:30 AM, and 9:30 AM IST.
FIFA and Zee Entertainment have entered into a long-term partnership. This agreement will last for 9 years and will bring the live broadcast of 39 major FIFA tournaments to India. Under this deal, fans in India will be able to watch events such as the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 and the FIFA World Cup 2030 on Zee platforms.
The FIFA 2026 broadcasting deal took quite some time to finalize. FIFA was initially asking for around $100 million for the India media rights, but no Indian broadcaster was willing to pay that amount, mainly because all matches will be broadcast at night in India, which could reduce viewership and advertising revenue.
In the early stage of negotiations, JioHotstar was the first major contender, but it eventually stepped out of the bidding process. After that, Zee Entertainment entered the race. Following several long rounds of discussions between FIFA and Zee, the deal was finally closed in the range of $30–35 million.
FIFA matches in India can be expected to be broadcast on Zee’s newly launched sports platform, Unite8 Sports.
The matches in India will likely be available in two languages—Hindi and English—so viewers can enjoy the coverage in their preferred language.
Matches can be watched in Hindi on Unite8 Sports 1 and Unite8 Sports 1 HD.
Matches can be watched in English on Unite8 Sports 2 and Unite8 Sports 2 HD.
Along with this, the matches can also be watched on digital and mobile platforms.
All 104 FIFA World Cup matches can be watched on the ZEE5 app and website.
1:- 12 June, Friday – 12:30 AM
Mexico vs South Africa (Group A)
Estadio Azteca, Mexico City
2:- 12 June, Friday – 07:30 AM
South Korea vs. Czech Republic (Group A)
Akron Stadium, Zapopan
3:- 13 June, Saturday – 12:30 AM
Canada vs Bosnia & Herzegovina (Group B)
BMO Field, Toronto
4:- 13 June, Saturday – 06:30 AM
USA vs Paraguay (Group D)
SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles
5:- 14 June, Sunday – 12:30 AM
Qatar vs Switzerland (Group B)
Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara
6:- 14 June, Sunday – 03:30 AM
Brazil vs Morocco (Group C)
MetLife Stadium, New Jersey
7:- 14 June, Sunday – 06:30 AM
Haiti vs Scotland (Group C)
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough
8:- 14 June, Sunday – 09:30 AM
Australia vs Turkey (Group D)
BC Place, Vancouver
9:- 14 June, Sunday – 10:30 PM
Germany vs Curaçao (Group E)
NRG Stadium, Houston
10:- 15 June, Monday – 01:30 AM
Netherlands vs Japan (Group F)
AT&T Stadium, Texas
