Upheaval ahead for football lovers. No 2026 World Cup matches will be broadcast on TF1! It’s M6 which wins all the free-to-air matches.
Thunderclap within the sports editorial staff of TF1the first channel will not broadcast any matches from the 2026 World Cup. The first channel was in competition with the group M6 whose offer was deemed too important to be followed or improved by the group TF1. During the competition which will take place in the United States, Canada and Mexico in a little over two years, viewers will have to tune into the group’s channels M6.
The thunderous information was revealed this Tuesday by RMC. The media explained that it had already been known to the various actors for several days, but that the employees of TF1 only found out this morning. It is therefore a very big loss for the front page, and inevitably a blow to the head of the channel’s sports department, its flagship journalist Grégoire Margotton, and its number one football consultant, Bixente Lizarazu.
In-store matches
Going into a little more detail, RMC cited several sources and clarified that M6 had won the call for tenders in the first round thanks to a proposal of an amount “ very high “. This would be above the 130 million euros that had to be paid for the 2022 World Cup. It is finally indicated that the management of the group TF1 wanted to be prudent by not increasing the bids.
However, all is not lost for TF1 which still has plenty of football competitions in store. A major broadcaster of the French team, it will, for example, offer the qualifications for the famous World Cup, as well as that of Euro 2028, of which it will exclusively broadcast the twenty-five most beautiful posters. On the women’s side, the first channel also has the rights to the Euro 2025 qualifying matches.
