World Cup 2026 also via YouTube
YouTube will become an official partner of the World Cup in 2026. FIFA expects from this agreement new content formats and reaching new target groups.
The video platform YouTube and the world football organization FIFA have concluded a strategic cooperation for the upcoming World Cup in football, which will be held in the United States of America, Canada and Mexico. The agreement, announced yesterday, will see YouTube become the "preferred platform" of the tournament. According to FIFA's idea, official media partners and content creators on YouTube will get more options and new formats for presenting events at the tournament.
In the press release, FIFA states that they will be able to publish detailed match summaries, background analysis, Shorts and Video-on-Demand to engage audiences on YouTube and increase overall reach and viewer engagement. For the first time in the history of the World Cup, media partners will have the opportunity to show the first ten minutes of each match live on their YouTube channels. Selected matches may also be shown in full length. In addition, FIFA will open its digital archive and publish full footage of past World Cup matches and many other legendary moments from the history of the sport on the official YouTube channel.
FIFA and YouTube plan to give a group of YouTube editors from around the world "unparalleled access to the World Cup." FIFA expects this unique and fresh perspective - with an emphasis on personal stories, tactical analysis and behind-the-scenes views - to deliver livelier coverage and engage new audiences around the world.
How could the connection affect Slovenian viewers? Most likely not. In Slovenia, the television rights for the 2026 World Cup are divided between two actors - RTV Slovenia, which will broadcast most of the matches (according to data, at least 64) and Arena Sport, which is listed as the regional rights holder for Slovenia in international lists of television partners. However, it is not necessary that one of the two actors will not also decide to supplement the coverage of the event via YouTube. On it, you could publish, for example, tactical analyses, brief match summaries, interviews, behind-the-scenes reports and more. RTV Slovenia will most likely use its MMC portal for this, so there is probably a greater chance that Arena Sport will choose YouTube.
RTV Slovenija and Arena Sprt are not the only potential "players". With this connection move, FIFA also wants to give access to YouTube creators who will publish personal stories, analysis and behind-the-scenes footage. Such a model can also have an impact on the Slovenian market, as it also offers an opportunity to local sports vloggers or journalists. How many do we have here? We did not find this information.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico between 11. June and July 19, 2026. The tournament will be the largest in history, as 48 national teams will participate, and a total of 104 matches will be played.
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