Every four years, the FIFA World Cup strikes, and it is as if the world forgets everything. The earth itself starts to revolve around the tournament, and with this kind of hype train going, it is hard not to jump on board to capitalize on the momentum, especially for streaming giants like Netflix. Netflix has taken full advantage of the excitement around the FIFA World Cup 2026 through a huge counter-programming schedule of football documentaries, the live, visual The Rest is Football podcast, and the exclusive, simple-to-play mobile and TV game FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition.

Still, there are questions about the streamer’s intentions for streaming FIFA live and other tournament festivities.

While Netflix will not be streaming live matches from the FIFA World Cup 2026, as the rights to those matches are exclusively held by other broadcasters, the streaming giant does offer a number of FIFA-related content like the FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition, The Rest Is Football podcast, and football documentaries and series.

The streamer has also announced the Netflix Couch Cup, which is a 1v1 FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition tournament, featuring eight actors from well-known Netflix series and movies. The event will go live on Netflix’s TikTok and YouTube handles on July 18. 2026, at 1:30 PM ET / 10:30 AM PT.

The lineup features some of the popular Netflix stars like the People We Meet on Vacation’s Emily Bader, One Piece Live Action’s Jacob Romero, 72 Hours’ Kam Patterson and Ben Marshall, and Avatar: The Last Airbender’s Dallas Liu, Gordon Cormier, Ian Ousley, and Kiawentiio. The matchups go like this: Dallas Liu vs Emily Bader, Jacob Romero vs Ian Ousley, Gordon Cormier vs Kam Patterson, Ben Marshall vs Kiawentiio.

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While Netflix did not get the streaming rights for FIFA matches this year, the streamer has reportedly been eying future World Cup rights.

According to a CNBC report dated July 7, the U.S. broadcast rights for the FIFA World Cups in 2030 and 2034 are now being sought after by Netflix, along with Disney and YouTube. Potential offers for each event are likely to be between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, and talks between FIFA and these media corporations are anticipated to start shortly. 

In order to streamline the bidding process and raise the rights' total value, FIFA is also thinking of selling the English and Spanish-language television rights jointly. According to those with knowledge of the streamer’s movements, Netflix sees the World Cup as a possible significant boost for its streaming services. That is exactly why the streaming behemoth is doing its best with all the FIFA content and festivities this year.

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