FIFA World Cup 2026: When, where and how to watch Football World Cup in India? Know complete details

FIFA World Cup 2026 will start from June 12 (Indian time). Know when, where and how you can watch Football World Cup matches in India, along with complete information about live telecast and streaming.

The wait for football fans is finally over. The world’s biggest football tournament FIFA World Cup 2026 is going to start from June 11, which will start from June 12 as per Indian time. This time the tournament is being jointly hosted by America, Mexico and Canada. For the first time, 48 teams are taking part in the World Cup, making it the largest FIFA World Cup ever.

The opening match of the tournament will be played between Mexico and South Africa at the Estadio Azteca stadium in Mexico City. The final match will be held on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, which will be played on July 20 Indian time. This time a total of 104 matches will be played and football fans will get to see exciting matches for more than a month.

When will the matches start according to Indian time?

The first match of FIFA World Cup 2026 will be played between Mexico and South Africa at 12:30 pm Indian time on Friday. The second match of Group A will start at 7:30 am on Friday between South Korea and Czechia. The group stage of the tournament will continue till June 27, after which the knockout matches will begin. The final match will be played on 20th July Indian time.

What is the new format of FIFA World Cup 2026?

This time 48 teams are participating in the World Cup, which are divided into 12 groups. There will be four teams in each group and all the teams will play three matches each in round-robin format. The top two teams from each group will advance directly to the knockout stage, while the eight best third-placed teams will also qualify for the next round. ‘Round of 32’ has been included for the first time, making the path to winning the title more challenging.

Where to watch FIFA World Cup 2026 live telecast in India?

Indian viewers will be able to watch live telecast of all the matches of FIFA World Cup 2026 on Unite8 Sports 1, Unite8 Sports 1 HD, Unite8 Sports 2 and Unite8 Sports 2 HD channels. Just a few weeks before the start of the tournament, Zee Group had acquired the broadcasting rights in India, after which every match will be available on TV for football fans.

What are the options for live streaming?

If you want to watch the match on mobile, laptop or smart TV, then live streaming of FIFA World Cup 2026 will be available on Zee5 app and website. Through this, fans can enjoy all the matches of the tournament anywhere and anytime. In such a situation, Indian viewers will have the option to watch the World Cup on both TV and digital platforms.