Croatia finished in third place at the Qatar 2022 men’s FIFA World Cup. (Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

FIFA, global soccer’s governing body, has begun the tender process covering media rights in eight Balkan markets to its next two men’s FIFA World Cups.

Processes have now begun covering TV rights for those national team tournaments in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia.

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The deadline for bids is 10am Central European Time on June 4, and entities wishing to participate in the tender should email fwc-media-rights@fifa.org to obtain the necessary documentation.

In terms of the broadcast rights for the previous men’s World Cup (Qatar 2022) in those countries, rights were held by the various free-to-air and public broadcast networks in each market, through an overall deal between the European Broadcasting Union and FIFA.

The men’s tournament in 2026 will be staged across Mexico, the US, and Canada, while the 2030 edition is set to be mainly hosted by Spain, Portugal, and Morocco (with the opening games in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, to celebrate the World Cup’s centenary).

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Out of the eight Balkan countries where tenders have now launched, Croatia and Serbia qualified for Qatar 2022, with Croatia making it to the semi-finals before being knocked out by eventual winners Argentina.

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Because of the enlarged format of the 2026 edition – 48 teams are set to take part as opposed to 32 in Qatar – 16 European teams will qualify for the North American event.

The last tender process covering FIFA World Cup action to kick off did so in Indonesia in mid-April, covering the 2026 and 2030 men’s tournaments, as well as the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2027 and 2031.

That process followed on from one launched in the UK (also in April) covering rights to the next two men’s World Cups. The deadline for submissions from UK broadcasters was April 29.

In March, meanwhile, French media company Groupe M6 secured exclusive FTA rights to air the 2026 and 2030 World Cups.