FIFA World Cup 2026: Zee To Show Marquee Tournament In India? - Here's What We Know

Football fans in India can finally rejoice after reports in the media suggested that Zee Entertainment have entered talks with FIFA to telecast and stream the World Cup 2026 in the country. The tournament, which will kicks-off from June 11, had not found an official broadcaster yet. But it seems, reportedly the Zee deal will go ahead and Indian viewers fan finally heave a sigh of relief.

Amidst talks of India losing on telecasting the marquee tournament, reports came out that Zee will be unveiling four new sports channels. Reports also suggested that Zee was in negotiations with FIFA to acquire the media rights for India.

The financial details have not been revealed but it is reported the deal is more than 20 million offer that JioHotstar made to FIFA. As per Reuters, FIFA was aiming for no less than 60 million package for the Indian market. However, Zee could end up signing a far lesser deal and only for the 2026 edition.

In China, the country's state broadcaster, cracked the deal with FIFA to telecast the World Cup 2026. The CMG group stated that the agreement with FIFA also covered broadcasting rights to the men’s tournament in 2030 and for the Women’s World Cups in 2027 and 2031.

Unite8 Sports To Telecast FIFA World Cup 2026

Zee Entertainment are reportedly readying to launch Unite8 Sports, a dedicated portfolio of sports channels which will telecast sports to India viewers. Football is one of the most followed sport after cricket in India with 2.9 percent of the global reach which it accounted for during the Qatar World Cup 2022.

In television viewing, India is among the top 10 countries with nearly 84 million viewers and is ahead of the likes of England, Germany and France.