Spain may be on the way home with the World Cup trophy after its extra-time goal sealed a 1-0 victory in the final against Argentina but RTÉ has secured the exclusive Irish free-to-air broadcast rights to the 2030 FIFA World Cup following record audiences for its coverage of this year’s tournament.
The 2030 World Cup will run from June 8 until July 21 and will largely be hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco. However, three centenary matches will take place in Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina. A total of 48 national teams will compete in an expanded 104-match format.
The announcement follows the conclusion of the 2026 tournament, which saw Spain defeat Argentina in the final and attracted record audiences across RTÉ’s television, streaming, radio, digital and social platforms.
The final generated more than 1.4 million streams on RTÉ Player, making it the most-streamed single event in the platform’s history. It also attracted an average television audience of 1 million on RTÉ2 and a 65% share of the available audience.
Across the tournament, RTÉ Player recorded 23.4 million streams. This was almost 15 million more than the 8.5 million streams generated during the 2022 World Cup and nearly three times the previous tournament’s total.
Other top-performing matches included England’s semi-final against Argentina, which attracted an average television audience of 949,000, a 60% share and 1 million RTÉ Player streams.
The semi-final between France and Spain drew an average audience of 873,000, a 61% share and 1 million streams, while England’s match against Norway attracted 787,000 television viewers, a 72% share and 1 million streams.
Kevin Bakhurst, director general of RTÉ, said the broadcaster was delighted to have secured the rights following what he described as a highly successful tournament.
“From the first game through to the final, audiences have come to RTÉ in large numbers for our coverage and analysis of every single game, but also for our World Cup highlights on RTÉ Player and YouTube, our podcasts, Up All Night on RTÉ Player and more,” he said.
“The huge number of streams on RTÉ Player throughout the tournament has been one of our big success stories this year and has highlighted the value of our investment in the service in recent years.
“We look forward to bringing the next FIFA World Cup to Irish audiences, including the Republic of Ireland’s qualification campaign, which we hope will be successful.”
He added that free-to-air live sport continued to create national moments and conversations for Irish audiences, supported by the television licence fee, public funding and commercial revenue.
RTÉ delivered coverage of all 104 matches during the 2026 tournament, its most extensive World Cup broadcast operation to date.
Declan McBennett, head of sport at RTÉ, said the World Cup final and the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final had combined to produce a memorable day for RTÉ Sport.
“More broadly, it has been an exceptional month of sporting coverage, including RTÉ’s most extensive FIFA World Cup broadcast operation to date, delivering all 104 matches with a uniquely Irish overview,” McBennett said.
“The strong response across television, RTÉ Player, digital and social platforms reflects the enduring appetite for live sport in Ireland.
“We look forward to bringing audiences more major sporting moments in the years ahead as part of RTÉ’s public service remit, including the FIFA World Cup in 2030.”
RTÉ Sport’s online and social coverage generated 91 million video views across its social platforms during the tournament. That included more than 6.8 million views of highlights and analysis on the RTÉ Sport YouTube channel.
With many matches kicking off late at night or in the early hours, World Cup highlights generated 1.6 million streams on RTÉ Player. Other tournament content, including unseen moments, clips and the Up All Night programme, contributed a further 345,000 streams.
RTÉ also provided news, analysis and reaction through Inside Sport, Saturday Sport and Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1, as well as extensive coverage across RTÉ Radio 1 and RTÉ 2FM programming.
RTÉ’s coverage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup was sponsored by Heineken 0.0.
