José Coelho / Lusa
FIFA refused all proposals for the transmission of the next world championship. Portugal is the only country in Europe and one of the few in the world facing this uncertainty.
The 2026 World Cup, which will be attended by the Portuguese team and will be played in North America, has no guaranteed television broadcast in Portugal.
The deadline for presentation of proposals ended on November 19, but all offers made by Portuguese operators were refused by FIFA, advances on Tuesday.
The reason for this decision is that the proposals submitted are below the required values For the body that governs international football: they are too low, especially given the success of the 2022 World Cup negotiations at Qatar.
Also advances the sports newspaper that Portugal is the only one in Europe and one of the few in the world that faces this uncertainty. In most countries, agreements have already been made or negotiations are underway, but in Portugal, FIFA’s refusal was categorical.
For some Portuguese, the news may be even more dramatic, as next year’s competition may even be the last one with the participation of Captain Cristiano Ronaldo.
The gambling increase in the 2026 edition, which will go from 64 to 104 matches, makes the situation even more critical, as more games mean more opportunities to follow the national team if they can qualify.
There is still hope
Although the original deadline has expired, there are still possibilities for the presentation of new proposals. FIFA has left the possibility of negotiation open, which means that Portuguese operators have one last opportunity to ensure the broadcast of the games.
However, time does not stop, and the Portuguese run the risk of seeing the next edition of the world’s largest selections competition without television coverage.
At the 2022 World Cup, Sport TV broadcast all games, including 28 exclusively, while open signal channels (RTP and private) divided the remaining 38 games.
The position of the national selection in the competition still depends on the results in the League of Nations: if it overcomes Denmark in the quarterfinals, it will be in Group F, otherwise it will be integrated into Group C.
