How to Watch the 2026 World Cup in India

Zee won the rights, late

The Indian-subcontinent broadcast and digital rights to the 2026 FIFA World Cup sit with Zee Entertainment, which signed its deal with FIFA only shortly before the 11 June opening match, ending a long stretch of uncertainty over who would show the tournament in India.

Around the deal, Zee launched its Unite8 Sports channels to carry the live telecast, with streaming on its established ZEE5 platform. Every one of the 104 matches, from the Estadio Azteca opener on 11 June to the MetLife Stadium Final on 19 July, runs through Zee. For the wider tournament picture, see our format explainer.

The channels and the app

Everything runs through Zee. Here is what each platform does and when to use it.

Access is through Zee, so you will need either a ZEE5 subscription or a television package that carries the Unite8 Sports channels. There is no full free-to-air public broadcaster showing the whole tournament in India, so check the current ZEE5 plans and any bundle or trial offers close to kickoff.

The clock is brutal for India

India runs on IST, UTC+5:30, with no daylight saving. With the matches in North America, most kickoffs land after midnight. Afternoon games over there become late-night IST, and evening North American games run into the early morning in India.

The friendliest slots are the noon Eastern Time kickoffs in the United States, which land around 9:30 PM IST and are the only games to begin before midnight in India, roughly 14 of the 104. The toughest are the US West Coast night games, which run to the early morning IST. For the full grid in your own local time, use our schedule and calendar, which convert automatically.

Which matches are worth staying up for

India did not qualify for 2026, so for most fans this is a neutral's tournament. The good news is that the biggest games are spread across the schedule, and the new 48-team format means more matches than ever.

• The opener, Mexico vs South Africa at the Azteca, kicks off at 12:30 AM IST on 12 June, a manageable late start.
• Weekend evenings in India often align with afternoon and early-evening North American kickoffs, the best window for a full match without an all-nighter.
• The knockouts, from the new Round of 32 onward, are where the drama concentrates, and many fall on weekends.
• The Final at MetLife Stadium kicks off at 12:30 AM IST on 20 July, an early Monday morning in India.

Plan the rest of your tournament

Frequently asked questions

Sources and further reading