Spanish sports agency Grup Mediapro has agreed a deal with the country’s RTVE public-service broadcaster to acquire the exclusive pay-TV rights to the entirety of the 2026 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament.

The rights deal grants Mediapro exclusive rights to 71 of the 104 World Cup games, with non-exclusive coverage rights for the remaining 33 games.

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It will disseminate these rights via a 24/7 dedicated World Cup streaming channel, Gol Mundial, which will be available for Spanish pay-TV services to draw content from, with sub-licensing deals for the content with other pay-TV providers likely to be reached.

This mirrors the launch of previous World Cup-focused services called Gol Mundial run by Mediapro, most recently ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, content from which was subsequently sublicensed by the LaLigaSportsTV and LaLigaTVBar services.

At that time, the service was available for subscribers through a single payment of just over $20, and aside from the World Cup fixtures live, past games and other on-demand content were also made available.

Next year’s World Cup is being staged across the US, Canada, and Mexico and will feature an extended list of 48 teams, the most ever for an edition of the tournament, and 104 fixtures.

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European champions Spain, the side currently ranked number three in the world by FIFA, sit in pole position to secure automatic qualification for the 2026 tournament, having won both of their first two qualifiers, conceding no goals and facing little in the way of opposition, and will likely be one of the favorites to win the entire tournament.