Telemundo says it will broadcast 92 of the 2026 World Cup’s 104 matches on its main over-the-air TV channel, and will show an unprecedented 700 hours of World Cup programming throughout the 39-day tournament.
The network, which holds Spanish-language World Cup broadcast rights in the United States, will have an on-the-ground presence at all 104 games, it said in a Monday news release and an interview with The Athletic. It will have everyone from legendary commentator Andrés Cantor to reporters and social media influencers on-site for major matches.
It’s the “most ambitious” World Cup coverage plan in Telemundo’s history, EVP of sports Joaquin Duro claimed to The Athletic.
The 700 hours of coverage are more than twice as many as Fox, which holds the World Cup’s English-language U.S. broadcast rights, has said it will air.
And the 92 matches on over-the-air TV are more than Fox’s 70. They’re the maximum possible for a single channel; the only 12 matches bumped to a secondary network, Universo, will be group-stage finales, when simultaneous games force broadcasters to pick one of two for their main channel.
Matches, though, represent only around 208 of the 700 programming hours. Telemundo’s coverage, Duro said, will often begin at 8 a.m. ET during the group stage and run continuously until 1 a.m. ET — meaning there will be 17 consecutive hours of World Cup or World Cup-adjacent programming on over-the-air television.
As he outlined the plan on a Monday video call, he glanced to his left, toward a calendar on his office wall, at the most complex World Cup schedule ever. There will be four matches per day from June 13-23 and six per day from June 24-27, many at irregular times and intervals. There will be no off days until July 8, between the round of 16 and quarterfinals.
No matter the times or intervals, though, Telemundo will fill days with a variety of shows that will range from serious fútbol analysis to culture and tangential topics.
“We’ve got so many names [of shows], to be honest, I don’t even know them,” Duro said with a laugh.
The idea is to create a funnel and “try to grab the different fandoms,” he said. The morning show will pull in casual fans or those who are more interested in things like entertainment or politics.
The network will then funnel everyone, gradually, toward the soccer. The focus will narrow as kickoff of the day’s first match — which could be anywhere from noon to 3 p.m. ET — nears. Between matches, “Pasión Mundial” will serve as both a postgame and pregame show. After the final match, there will be a recap show and hour-long versions of “El Pelotazo,” Telemundo’s nightly sports show.
In totality, Duro said, the network will cover tactics but also “everything else that is happening around the World Cup, from a cultural [perspective], from food, music, news, including some political. This is the first World Cup that we’re integrating the entertainment … and the news department within Telemundo.”
He also said that he and his team have worked with FIFA, the World Cup’s owner and organizer, to expand matchday access. In the past, FIFA would “keep you very far from the pitch,” Duro noted. “But we are having access when the teams are coming out, when the teams are warming up inside the center circle. We have, behind the goal, social media influencer positions.”
The network’s main World Cup studio will be at Telemundo Center in Miami, but it will also set up on-site studios in multiple World Cup host cities and at stadiums.
Duro described a “Tier 1” and “Tier 2” approach to the 104 matches. “Tier 2 is massive,” he clarified, but Tier 1 games — the openers, for example, or any game featuring the U.S. or Mexico — are the ones that will get special treatment, with a more extensive on-the-ground presence. “It’s probably a nightmare for finance,” he joked.
He also said that Telemundo’s roster of on-air analysts would include a former player or coach from every Hispanic country participating in this World Cup, plus some from “other major European countries.”
The network announced some members of that roster, including Cantor, back in October, but will announce more additions once contracts are finalized.
Monday’s announcement also included plans for digital and social media shows. And Duro mentioned there will be integration with NBC Sports and NBC News — with various verticals under the umbrella of NBCUniversal and Comcast, Telemundo’s parent company.
All 104 matches will also be shown on Peacock, NBC’s over-the-top streaming service.
Duro said that, with this World Cup being held in North America, with it expanding from 64 matches to 104 and with more Hispanics in the U.S. than ever before, he expects some matches, and the tournament as a whole, to break various domestic viewership records.
