Rights to the upcoming FIFA World Cup national teams soccer tournament have been snapped up by Vietnam Television (VTV).
That state-owned broadcaster – which also covered the 2022 World Cup – has now unveiled rights to cover all 104 matches of the 48-team tournament live, alongside producing a highlights show and video-on-demand content.
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Coverage will be available through VTV's linear and digital platforms, as well as through mobile and social media apps.
The deal also covers public screening rights, meaning VTV will be able to organize large-scale viewing events and fan zones, as well as show the action in commercial and public premises.
The 2026 World Cup will take place between June 11 and July 19, hosted jointly by Mexico, the US, and Canada, and is the first to feature 48 sides.
The game's governing body, FIFA, has been selling rights across Southeast Asia by itself for this edition of the tournament, but has been working with sports marketing agency Infront in an advisory capacity.
VTV also held rights to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Vietnam, through a deal struck at the eleventh hour. On that occasion, it acquired the rights from Infront, which was selling rights to that tournament on behalf of FIFA.
Do Thanh Hai, deputy director general at VTV, said: "With modern production and broadcasting systems, along with extensive experience in covering major sporting events, VTV is ready to bring audiences a complete and immersive FIFA World Cup 2026 experience."
No Southeast Asian nations have qualified for the American tournament – Vietnam themselves were knocked out after the second round of qualifying.
Earlier this week, SportyTV, the pay-TV broadcaster, acquired rights in South Africa to the event, and is also set to show all 104 games.
In late March, meanwhile, a deal was struck in Estonia with free-to-air broadcasters ERR and TV3.
The TV3-owned Go3 streaming service will provide coverage of all 104 games from this summer’s tournament, while ERR will broadcast 33 matches live, and the linear TV3 channel will air 36 matches.
Other World Cup deals in the last few months have seen global OTT platform DAZN and public broadcaster Rai secure rights in Italy, Now TV in Hong Kong, and Aleph in the Philippines.
