2026 World Cup kicks off Thursday: Here's how to watch the games

The 2026 Men's World Cup officially kicks off Thursday. It'll be the biggest ever version of the quadrennial tournament, with 48 countries set to play 104 games across three countries over the next five weeks. It will be a soccer fan's dream come true.

Seattle will play host to six of those matches, beginning with Monday's opener between Belgium and Egypt at noon at Seattle Stadium (Lumen Field).

But plenty of matches will take place before Seattle gets its turn in the spotlight. It all starts Thursday at noon PT in Mexico City with a match between Mexico and South Africa. The U.S. opener will take place at 6 p.m. Friday against Paraguay.

Here's how to watch all the action as the tournament unfolds.

TV and streaming

FOX and FS1 will broadcast all 104 games live in English.

- FOX will air 70 matches including the opening game, all knockout stage matches from the Round of 16 onward and the World Cup Final.

- FS1 is broadcasting the 34 group-stage and Round of 32 matches. You'll need cable or streaming service credentials for these games. Services like FuboTV is on sale for $45.99 for the first month, or YouTube TV is free for the first 21 days and then $67.99 for three months.

On demand

Missed your match? You can queue up the action on-demand on Fox One. This requires a subscription, which costs $19.99 per month.

Spanish-language broadcast

Peacock and Telemundo will air all 104 matches in Spanish. A Peacock subscription that includes Telemundo starts at $7.99 per month.

Seattle's matches:

Bay Area News Group's Pueng Vongs contributed to this report.

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