Global scale LiveU was one the companies at the heart of the tournament, enabling reliable production across all 104 matches. Delivering a record-breaking LIQ and cloud service deployment, the operation was the largest and most-complex broadcast footprint in LiveU’s history. LiveU served as the IP backbone and remote cloud production (REMI) ecosystem for a significant share of non‑rights and unilateral coverage across Mexico, the US and Canada. “From a LiveU perspective, we like a challenge,” begins Ophir Zardok, global head of sports growth & strategy. “HBS was the key broadcaster for this competition, but when you look at all the visiting broadcasters coming over to do the unilateral feeds, they don’t necessarily rely on capturing the atmosphere. With some of the broadcasters that actually got extra camera position in the stadium, they relied on LiveU to cover these additional angles.” Coverage spanned pre-match briefings, official training sessions, press conferences, in-stadium editorial positions, fan zones, team hotels and IRL creator streams from city centres and public viewing areas. “Everybody had to expect the unexpected because there were a lot of moving parts,” adds Zardok. “We needed to provide broadcasters the flexibility to serve any scenario while simplifying the entire process. On the technical side, it was about creating a flexible ecosystem to enable them to ease their workflows and operational side.” Broadcasters utilised the LiveU EcoSystem. The multi-site broadcast effort was anchored by the company’s LU800 multicamera field unit and intelligent production unit, LU900Q. The combination enabled ultra low-latency, 4K-ready content to be delivered directly to millions of
he 2026 FIFA World Cup came to an end on 19 July when Spain defeated Argentina in extra time. Conceding only one goal throughout the entire tournament, the Spanish were well-deserved champions. With 104 matches across 16 venues, the football tournament was the largest in history. The cup also delivered some memorable broadcast moments, such as Merlin the duck, who went viral after joining the Mexican crowds after their 2-0 opening win over South Africa. We also got to see the Tartan Army take over the streets of Boston, with an estimated 50,000 fans visiting the city. One particularly entertaining moment saw the Belgian national team soaked by a sprinkler during a team talk, with head coach Rudi Garcia taking the brunt of it. Social media was at the heart of it all, more so than any other tournament I can remember. My partner even developed an unhealthy obsession with Erling Haaland as the internet became flooded with memes of the Norwegian forward. The impact of social media even extended to the players themselves. Following a 0-0 draw with Spain, Cape Verde keeper Vozinha’s Instagram following rose from 40,000 to more than 15 million after his goalkeeping display. By the end of Cape Verde’s World Cup run, this had increased to nearly 29 million. Audiences also got to see just as much of what was happening beyond the pitch – from fan reactions to celebrity appearances (which included seeing the Beckhams every five minutes during an England game). While the World Cup was one of the most entertaining tournaments – on and off the pitch – delivering a such a gargantuan project wasn’t without its setbacks and limitations. We look back at how a competition of this scale was broadcast to audiences across the globe.
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