If the FIFA ‘Peace Prize’ holder throwing missiles at one of the participants of this year’s World Cup isn’t enough to call the tournament off, nothing will. We may as well at least have some fun as we watch some of the world’s best footballers duke it out on American soil. Hell, they may even get around to playing some actual football.
Today, FIFA announced a major partnership with YouTube that’ll bring nearly everyone into the World Cup action in June. YouTube is now a “Preferred Platform” for the World Cup, meaning broadcast partners will be able to stream the first ten minutes of matches — though a select few will stream the full 90 minutes right on their YouTube channel. It’s not exactly clear how a ‘Media Partner’ ascends to the necessary level in FIFA’s good books.
For the love of the game
While many will already have a plan to watch the games live, the folks who can’t foot the DStv bill must make do with YouTube. We’re not just talking about the first ten minutes of a match. With YouTube being a ‘preferred partner’, creators have the go-ahead to “publish extended highlights, behind-the-scenes footage, Shorts and video-on-demand content that resonates with audiences on YouTube.” That’s… a big deal.
It’s not just the matches themselves. FIFA confirmed that a treasure trove of content, “including full-length past matches and many more iconic moments in the sport’s history,” was headed for its official YouTube channel.
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FIFA is obviously banking on all the extra content floating around to drum up hype for the matches themselves. And it might just work. When the Olympics or the NHL forbid access to something like highlights, it’s potentially driving away paying fans. This move will not only benefit creators on YouTube but also official broadcasters such as SuperSport. It’s essentially farming engagement from YouTube creators.
The FIFA World Cup 2026 will officially kick off on Saturday, 11 June at 21h00. South Africa will have the honour of opening the tournament against Mexico. The move is a calculated one by FIFA’s higher-ups, looking to recreate the magic of the 2010 tournament. Whatever the case, we’ll be there.
