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SINGAPORE: From defending champions Argentina meeting Algeria in the group stage to England playing against Ghana, the schedule of the 28 free-to-air live matches for the 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament was released by Mediacorp on Wednesday (Jun 3).
Football fans will be able to catch some of these key games live on Channel 5 and mewatch, Mediacorp's digital streaming platform.
The group-stage games airing for free will also feature Spain versus Saudi Arabia, France vs Iraq, Brazil vs Haiti, Panama vs Croatia and South Korea vs Czechia.
The Jun 12 (Singapore time 3am) opening match between Mexico and South Africa, as well as the two semi-finals, third-place playoff and the final on Jul 20 (Singapore time 3am) are part of the free-to-air lineup as well.
This is a "significant expansion" from the nine free-to-air matches available in 2022, Mediacorp said in a news release, giving viewers in Singapore "a front-row seat to the competition's biggest moments".
In addition to the matches, fans may also view curated highlights on mewatch and Mediacorp Sports on YouTube, TikTok and other digital platforms.
"Together, these offerings reflect Mediacorp's commitment to making major sporting moments more accessible and bringing audiences together through shared national experiences," it added.
The World Cup this year, running from Jun 11 to Jul 19, has three host countries: Canada, Mexico and the United States.
There are 48 teams competing in 104 matches – the biggest edition of the tournament to date.
Mediacorp, which announced in February that it had secured exclusive rights to broadcast the 2026 FIFA World Cup, is offering a standard subscription price of S$118 to catch all 104 matches. Early-bird pricing, which closed on Apr 30, was S$98.
Both rates are unchanged from the 2022 tournament.
Subscriptions are also available through the national media network's carriage partners Singtel and StarHub.
Apart from this year's tournament, Mediacorp will also cover all 64 matches and the ceremonies of the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup, as well as a range of other FIFA events taking place between 2026 and 2028, including the FIFA U-17 World Cup, FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup and FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.
Its chief customer officer Angeline Poh said: "Few events capture the world's imagination quite like the FIFA World Cup.
"By tripling our free-to-air lineup from nine matches in 2022 to 28 this year, we hope more fans in Singapore will get to experience the moments everyone will be talking about, from the opening match to the final.”
Subscribe to the FIFA World Cup 2026™ and catch all 104 matches live on mewatch. Visit mewatch.sg/fifaworldcup for more details.
