In the vast majority of countries, the FIFA World Cup 2026 is a 100% free-to-air affair, meaning piracy isn’t much of a going concern for rights holders during the 39-day soccer tournament. Yet while FIFA tries to maximize reach by selling rights to ad-funded or public broadcasters, there are several major markets where World Cup rights sit behind paywalls, either fully or partially. The US, co-host alongside Canada and Mexico, is a strong example. US distribution rights for the 2026 World Cup are split between English-language broadcaster Fox and Spanish-language broadcaster Telemundo, with a chunk of matches redistributed through NBCU’s Peacock. Many matches require a pay TV subscription or streaming bundle. While Fox usually puts a limited number of games…