ITV Sport has recently announced its presenter and punditry line-up for the FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage. The broadcasting will be led by Mark Pougatch, Laura Woods, and Semra Hunter from Brooklyn, New York.
The presenting team will be joined by a host of pundits live from ITV’s studios in Brooklyn. This includes football legends like Roy Keane, Ian Wright, Gary Neville, Patrick Vieira, Karen Carney among others. Commentary will be spearheaded by Sam Matterface, Jon Champion, Seb Hutchinson and Joe Speight with co-commentary provided by Lee Dixon and Ally McCoist among others.
Gabriel Clarke and Connie McLaughlin are set to report on-ground while Christina Unkel returns as the referee analyst providing insights into key refereeing decisions across the tournament.
ITV director of sport, Niall Sloane, said:
“This is the biggest FIFA World Cup in history and we will be live from New York City for the duration of the tournament, bringing every key moment to life, free-to-air. Nothing unifies the UK audience more than a global sporting event and they don’t come much bigger than this. Our broadcast line-up is second to none and our comprehensive coverage across ITV, ITVX, our World Cup 24/7 Channel, plus our digital platforms will ensure the ITV audience doesn’t miss a second of action.”
Special features
Adam Richman of Man v Food fame is set to co-present alongside Semra Hunter in ITV’s Brooklyn studio. They'll be joined by celebrity guests in a special section dedicated to examining all major World Cup social and cultural moments.
Daniyal Khan is appointed as ITV Sport’s social reporter who'll explore everything from underground fan culture to fashion trends defining the FIFA World Cup 2026 on the streets of New York City.
ITV plans to kick off tournament coverage with Mexico v South Africa match live from Mexico City at 8pm (UK) on various channels including ITV1 & STV Player. In total they plan to air 29 group-stage matches including England's first match against Croatia live from Dallas at 9pm (UK) on Wednesday June17th & Scotland's group-stage match against Morocco at 11pm (UK) on June19th.
Comprehensive coverage
Produced by ITV Sport Production team based out of New York City, ITV will broadcast live for the duration of the tournament. They have secured three top picks for Quarter-Final stages including first two picks and five out of top nine picks for round 32.
ITV Sport will also air first matches of current World Champions Argentina and key footballing nations Germany, Netherlands & Spain. The final match will be shown live on both ITV and BBC.
Live games and highlights will be shared on ITV Football’s social platforms including X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok & YouTube. On the ITV Sport YouTube channel fans can access all latest content via a 24/7 stream with highlights, interviews & features throughout the tournament.
‘Inside The World Cup’ is a new digital series available on X & ITVX that offers behind-the-scenes look at FIFA World Cup following England and other competing nations throughout the tournament. ITVX plans to provide full video-on-demand service featuring all matches' highlights across both ITV & BBC along with short-form content like camp reports etc. It's also launching a World Cup 24/7 Channel featuring classic matches from previous tournaments.
