Industry comparisons of 2026 broadcast deals confirm what British fans already suspected: nobody on earth has it better. The BBC and ITV partnership covers all 104 matches free, with games split between BBC iPlayer and ITVX, while global rights for the expanded tournament sold for around 4 billion dollars in total.
Australia, Brazil and China round out the top tier, each with full free national coverage through SBS, CazeTV and CMG respectively. At the other end sit the United States, where full English coverage needs a pay TV login, and the 24 beIN exclusive countries across the Middle East and North Africa.
The gap explains a measurable surge in VPN interest from paywalled markets this week. How the UK's coverage works, and what fans elsewhere are doing about it, is covered in our UK guide and the global free streams comparison.