Live broadcast of the Mexico vs South Africa match at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Photo: Screenshot from China Central Television

 "One can't find live World Cup on TV in Taiwan island" has become one of the most discussed topics related to the 2026 FIFA World Cup on social media platform Weibo over the weekend. Mainland netizens are now inviting fans from the island to come to mainland and watch the World Cup for free, after veteran Taiwan actor Li Liqun posted a video saying that he could not find any channel broadcasting the tournament despite searching multiple TV stations. 

In the video posted on Douyin, Li said he turned on Taiwan's sports channels at midnight local time just before the opening match, but found none airing the game. "We cannot see it here in Taiwan. It's strange that these sports channels were all showing baseball and American NBA basketball."

"Because in Taiwan, spending that kind of money [for broadcasting deal] is a big deal…" Li continued in the video.

The video quickly sparked heated discussions across the Taiwan Straits. Many netizens from Chinese mainland called out to their compatriots in Taiwan, saying, "All the games on the mainland are free to watch," and "Come to the mainland and watch all matches you want." 

According to reports, Taiwan's ELTA TV holds exclusive broadcasting rights for this World Cup. Free channels including TTV on the island only offer popular matches. If one wants to watch all the games in full, one has to pay extra money to subscribe, local media reports said. Some other netizens on the island left comments on social media expressing confusion about where to find live broadcasts of the matches.

In the mainland, football fans have diverse ways to watch the games. The official broadcasting channels have provided free broadcasts of all 104 matches of this World Cup for fans, according to CCTV.

He Weipei, a Taiwan native now working in mainland, told the media that all matches are live-streamed for free. "You can simply open the app on your phone and watch, and there are also interactive activities," he said.

Another resident from Taiwan, Lin Songquan told the CCTV that the mainland side had acquired the full broadcasting rights from FIFA at a price of $60 million. He pointed out that the huge market scale on the mainland gives it strong commercial value and bargaining power in negotiations.  

This has effectively lowered the threshold for watching the games, allowing viewers to enjoy high-quality sports content at a lower cost, Lin said. "This is a real, practical benefit."

The CCTV cited a Taiwan netizen as saying that "after the reunification, people from the Taiwan island can also directly watch the games for free, whether through apps or TV. It would be a big benefit."  



Global Times