Four years have passed since Argentina took on France in what was one of the most thrilling matches in World Cup history. Fans from around the world have been excited to cheer for their team in the latest FIFA World Cup, 2026, which is jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States. The tournament is well into its group stage, with the expanded team lineup delivering near-daily action; it can get confusing for newer fans. But don’t worry, here’s everything you need to know about watching the matches this week, including streaming options and Indian timings.
The World Cup streaming rights were a bit controversial this year. While SonyLiv has been the go-to platform for watching football, with the FIFA World Cup 2026 in place, the broadcast rights in India for TV and live streaming have gone to ZEE Entertainment. It was very much a last-minute call, but ever since then, ZEE has introduced its ZEE5 FIFA World Cup plan, which has been priced at Rs 799 in India. There are also a bunch of offers that users can avail.
Live TV broadcasts are available on the Unite8 Sports channels. It’s worth noting that ZEE5 has faced some backlash over subscription plan changes and streaming glitches since the tournament began, so fans may want to keep the ZEE5 app updated and check their plan details before kickoff happens.
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Speaking of which, let’s also have a look at the upcoming matches in the ongoing group stage for the rest of the week. On June 16, France takes on Senegal, while Iraq faces Norway. The defending champions, Argentina, will be up against Algeria, which will be followed by Austria versus Jordan.
Coming to June 17, it will bring even more exciting matches as Portugal faces DR Congo, England takes on Croatia, Ghana against Panama, and Uzbekistan versus Colombia. Meanwhile, June 18 will feature Czechia versus South Africa and Switzerland against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The rest of the group stage games will continue through the weekend as well, with multiple matches scheduled. We recommend checking out the official FIFA website to have a detailed look at the fixtures.
In case you’re wondering about the timings of the matches in India, given the US, Mexico and Canada time zones, most matches fall in the late evening to early morning slots for Indian viewers. So the matches starting at noon will be roughly 9:30 PM IST, while evening matches come around 3:30 AM and 6:30 AM IST the next day. Fans tracking multiple matches in a day should expect a mix of prime-time and late-night/early-morning slots throughout the week.
Last but not least, if you’re curious to know about the knockout rounds of this year’s World Cup, let me talk about that now. It brings a slight change this year, as, unlike previous years, the knockouts begin with a brand-new round of 32, followed by a similar round of 16, after which there will be four quarter-finals and two semi-finals like before.
The group stage started on June 11 and will be ongoing till June 27. Meanwhile, the round of 32 will start from June 28 to July 3, and the round of 16 will start from July 4 to 7. After which, quarterfinals will go on from July 9 to 11, the semi-finals on July 14 and 15, the bronze medal match on July 18, and the finals will kick off on July 19.
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