Football fans rejoice, SBS will remain the home of the FIFA World Cup in 2026

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Key Points
  • The FIFA World Cup 2026 will be exclusively broadcast on SBS and SBS On Demand.
  • Teams will play a record 104 matches across three countries.
  • The Socceroos are hoping to back up their stellar Qatar 2022 performance.
SBS will exclusively broadcast the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup to Australian audiences, making SBS the home of football for 40 years.
The deal gives SBS both free-to-air broadcast and SBS On Demand digital rights, for the entirety of the 104-match blockbuster.
“Football is in the DNA of SBS,” said James Taylor, managing director of SBS.

“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.

“We are bringing every match, live, free and exclusively in searing high definition.”

SBS broadcast its first FIFA World Cup in 1986, when Mexico hosted the tournament. Here’s what you need to know about the 2026 edition.

Where will the World Cup 2026 be held?

The 23rd FIFA World Cup will be held in three North American countries: the United States, Mexico and Canada. The three nations will host the matches across a record 16 venues.
It is only the second time that the Men’s World Cup hosting duties have been split, after Japan and South Korea in 2002.

The tournament will return to its normal schedule across June and July, after the 2022 cup was changed to November and December due to Qatar’s warmer climate.

How many teams will take part in the tournament?

FIFA has confirmed the competition will expand from 32 teams to a record 48 national teams.

In the biggest shake-up to the tournament’s format, there will now be 12 groups of four.

The final four teams will play eight games, instead of the previous seven.

Why has FIFA increased the number of teams?

FIFA’s council said it considered a few factors, with Qatar 2022 producing thrilling clashes in the final matches of the group stages.

“Based on a thorough review that considered sporting integrity, player welfare, team travel, commercial and sporting attractiveness, as well as team and fan experience,” said FIFA on the decision earlier this year.

Will Australia take part in the competition?

If we qualify. The Socceroos will launch their 2026 qualifying campaign at 8pm (AEDT) on Thursday 16 November.

They will face the winner of a Bangladesh and Maldives clash at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.

What happened at the 2022 World Cup?

In 2022, the Socceroos celebrated their best FIFA World Cup campaign since 2006.

After losing their opening group match to eventual finalists France, the team beat Tunisia and Denmark to claim a place in the round of 16.

However, they were beaten 2-1 by eventual tournament champions Argentina.

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