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BBC and ITV confirm FIFA World Cup coverage split

The broadcasters have announced who is carrying which games, with the BBC getting top picks in the knockout stages.

ITV will kick-off coverage of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup on British television, with the commercial broadcaster carrying 29 group-stage matches, including England’s first match.

The tournament starts on 11 June with the final taking place on 19 July. Matches will be played across venues in Canada, Mexico and the USA.

The BBC will broadcast Scotland’s opening match, but its coverage will commence on 12 June with Canada facing one of the play-off winners, either Bosnia and Herzegovina, Wales, Northern Ireland or Italy, followed by USA vs. Paraguay.

ITV Sport will also air the first matches of the tournament for current World Champions Argentina, and key footballing nations Germany, the Netherlands and Spain.

The opening matches of two of the host nations, USA and Canada, will be shown live by the BBC.

  • Scroll down for full list of group stage games covered by each broadcaster.

The knock-out stages and final

Meanwhile, the BBC has confirmed it will get three of the top four picks in the round of 16 will be chosen by the BBC as well as three of the top five in the round of 32. That means audiences can look forward to three of England’s knockout clashes, if they progress – in the round of 32, round of 16, and a semi-final, plus England’s group-stage match with Ghana.

The final will be shown live on both the BBC and ITV as usual.

Overview: BBC and ITV FIFA World Cup fixtures

The BBC will screen its live games primarily on BBC One and iPlayer. Some games will be shown on other BBC channels (schedule details to be confirmed).

ITV will screen games on either ITV1 or ITV4. All games will be live on ITVX. In STV’s broadcast regions in Scotland, ITV1 games will be simulcast on STV and STV Player.

All times below are British Summer Time (BST or GMT+1).

  • 11 June: Mexico v South Africa (20:00 BST) – ITV

  • 12 June: South Korea v play-off D (03:00) – ITV
  • 12 June: Canada v play-off A (20:00) – BBC

  • 13 June: USA v Paraguay (02:00) – BBC
  • 13 June: Qatar v Switzerland (20:00) – ITV
  • 13 June: Brazil v Morocco (23:00) – BBC

  • 14 June: Australia v play-off C (05:00) – ITV
  • 14 June: Scotland v Haiti (02:00) – BBC
  • 14 June: Germany v Curacao (18:00) – ITV
  • 14 June: Netherlands v Japan (21:00) – ITV

  • 15 June: Play-off B v Tunisia (03:00) – ITV
  • 15 June: Ivory Coast v Ecuador (00:00) – BBC
  • 15 June: Spain v Cape Verde (17:00) – ITV
  • 15 June: Belgium v Egypt (20:00) – BBC
  • 15 June: Saudi Arabia v Uruguay (23:00) – ITV

  • 16 June: Iran v New Zealand (02:00) – BBC
  • 16 June: France v Senegal (20:00) – BBC
  • 16 June: Play-off 2 v Norway (23:00) – BBC

  • 17 June: Argentina v Algeria (02:00) – ITV
  • 17 June: Austria v Jordan (05:00) – BBC
  • 17 June: Portugal v play-off 1 (18:00) – BBC
  • 17 June: England v Croatia (21:00) – ITV

  • 18 June: Ghana v Panama (00:00) – ITV
  • 18 June: Uzbekistan v Colombia (03:00) – BBC
  • 18 June: South Africa v play-off D (17:00) – BBC
  • 18 June: Play-off A v Switzerland (20:00) – ITV
  • 18 June: Canada v Qatar (23:00) – ITV

  • 19 June: Mexico v South Korea (02:00) – BBC
  • 19 June: USA v Australia (20:00) – BBC
  • 19 June: Scotland v Morocco (23:00) – ITV

  • 20 June: Paraguay v play-off C (05:00) – ITV
  • 20 June: Brazil v Haiti (02:00) – ITV
  • 20 June: Netherlands v play-off B (18:00) – BBC
  • 20 June: Germany v Ivory Coast (21:00) – ITV

  • 21 June: Japan v Tunisia (05:00) – BBC
  • 21 June: Curacao v Ecuador (01:00) – BBC
  • 21 June: Spain v Saudi Arabia (17:00) – BBC
  • 21 June: Belgium v Iran (20:00) – ITV
  • 21 June: Cape Verde v Uruguay (23:00) – BBC

  • 22 June: Egypt v New Zealand (02:00) – ITV
  • 22 June: Argentina v Austria (18:00) – BBC
  • 22 June: France v play-off 2 (22:00) – BBC

  • 23 June: Senegal v Norway (01:00) – ITV
  • 23 June: Algeria v Jordan (04:00) – ITV
  • 23 June: Portugal v Uzbekistan (18:00) – ITV
  • 23 June: England v Ghana (21:00) – BBC

  • 24 June: Croatia v Panama (00:00) – BBC
  • 24 June: Colombia v play-off 1 (03:00) – ITV
  • 24 June: Canada v Switzerland & Play-off A v Qatar (20:00) – ITV
  • 24 June: Scotland v Brazil & Morocco v Haiti (23:00) – BBC

  • 25 June: Mexico v play-off D & South Africa v South Korea (02:00) – BBC
  • 25 June: Germany v Ecuador & Curacao v Ivory Coast (21:00) – BBC

  • 26 June: USA v play-off C & Paraguay v Australia (03:00) – ITV
  • 26 June: Japan v play-off B & Netherlands v Tunisia (00:00) – BBC
  • 26 June: France v Norway & Senegal v play-off 2 (20:00) – ITV

  • 27 June: Cape Verde v Saudi Arabia & Uruguay v Spain (01:00) – ITV
  • 27 June: Egypt v Iran & New Zealand v Belgium (04:00) – BBC
  • 27 June: England v Panama & Croatia v Ghana (22:00) – ITV

  • 28 June: Algeria v Austria & Argentina v Jordan (03:00) – BBC
  • 28 June: Colombia v Portugal & play-off 1 v Uzbekistan (00:30) – BBC

Details of the knockout stages, for which the BBC has most of the top picks, will be confirmed during the tournament.

By: Marc Thornham | Image: FIFA

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