World soccer governing body, FIFA, has opened an invitation to tender (“ITT”) in Sub-Saharan Africa for the media rights to the FIFA World Cup 2026 and FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027.
With qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2026 commenced in Africa this month, the tender process will allow FIFA to select the media companies that are best placed to operationally secure the required transmission commitments and to achieve FIFA’s objectives of reaching the widest possible audience and providing a high-quality viewing experience of the tournament, which will be hosted in Canada, Mexico, and the USA, for fans.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is the 23rd edition in a series, will follow a new format, with a record 104 matches and double the number of knock-out stage matches. With the tournament expanding to include a record 48 nations in 2026, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) will have a guaranteed nine representatives at the next FIFA World Cup. There also remains the possibility of a tenth African side sealing a place at the tournament, with one African nation guaranteed to advance to FIFA intercontinental play-off tournament. The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 was the best FIFA World Cup ever for African teams. Morocco made history by becoming the first African nation to reach the semi-finals of the tournament, Senegal advanced to the round of 16, while Cameroon, Ghana, and Tunisia each recorded group stage wins.
Interested parties are also invited to submit their proposals to broadcast the tenth edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2027. The host(s) of the FIFA World Cup 2027 will be decided on 17 May 2024 by the FIFA Congress. African teams made their mark on this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup held in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, with three of Africa’s four representatives advancing to the knockout phase and all four winning a match for the first time in history.