New World TV (NWTV), the Togo-based satellite television network operating across sub-Saharan Africa, has snapped up rights to soccer's next two FIFA World Cups – one men's edition and one women's.
Both the men's 2026 World Cup (to be held across Mexico, the US, and Canada), and the 2027 Women's World Cup (WWC) in Brazil will be covered in sub-Saharan African territories by NWTV, it has been unveiled today.
In the following 19 territories, all matches from both events will be broadcast on NWTV's pay-TV platform: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Congo DR, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, and Togo.
Across 43 markets, meanwhile, NWTV has been tasked with sub-licensing 34 games from next year's World Cup, and 25 fixtures from the 2027 tournament, for "free-to-air exploitation."
This deal comes as an extension, with NWTV having provided coverage in sub-Saharan Africa of both the 2022 men's World Cup in Qatar, and of the 2023 WWC (held across Australia and New Zealand).
The tender process for the 2026 and 2027 tournaments went live in sub-Saharan Africa in late November of 2023.
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By GlobalDataIn terms of its relationship with FIFA, the broadcaster is also covering the ongoing FIFA Club World Cup (taking place in the US), in French-speaking territories across Africa.
Those 43 countries are: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Congo DR, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Princípe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Romy Gai, chief business officer at FIFA, has said: "We are delighted to extend our partnership with New World TV and continue to benefit from their African-rooted approach, their expertise of broadcasting major football events, and their innovation and deep passion for the game. They have proven their ability to deliver world-class coverage and strong localization that resonates with millions of viewers across Africa."
The African zone qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup began in November 2023 and run through November this year – at the time of writing, six matchdays have taken place, out of 10 scheduled.
At least nine teams from the continent will be present at next year's tournament.
The 2022 World Cup saw three sub-Saharan African teams present – Cameroon, Senegal, and Ghana.
For the WWC in two years' time, meanwhile, qualification will be settled through performances at the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations.
In terms of FIFA's World Cup media rights activity, earlier this month soccer's governing body opened a tender process covering the 2027 WWC (and the 2031 edition of that tournament) in Canada.
The deadline for bid submissions is July 10 at 19:00 Central European Time, and interested parties will be able to request the necessary documentation by emailing canada-media-rights@fifa.org.
Meanwhile, late May saw Deutsche Telekom, the German telecommunications giant, unveil a wide-ranging package of FIFA rights, including games from both the 2026 and 2027 tournaments.
