After contract with CBF, Globo negotiates purchase of Argentine national team games until 2026

After signing an exclusive contract with the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) for the Brazilian national team’s games until 2026, Globo is looking for more options for matches for the World Cup qualifiers, which begin in September.

The broadcaster negotiates a direct contract with the AFA (Argentine Football Association) to broadcast the selection’s matches until the end of this cycle of the current world champion. The report found that negotiations are advanced. The AFA is interested in maintaining a partnership that was successful in the last World Cup cycle, between 2019 and 2022.

Globo’s wish is for the deal to be closed by the beginning of August to bolster its World Cup cycle and guarantee the two classics between Brazil and Argentina that are already scheduled for the qualifiers in the coming years. Argentina’s games cause interest mainly due to the Lionel Messi effect, and matches in the neighboring country reach the same audience as Brazil on pay TV — as the selection is on free-to-air TV, the public tends to concentrate there.

Along with the games in Argentina, Globo made a proposal for a consortium involving the federations of Uruguay, Paraguay, Ecuador and Venezuela. The entities decided to unite and sell a package with 36 games from the Qualifiers directly to the broadcasters. These conversations are also ongoing.

The South American qualifiers are scheduled to take place from September and will extend until the second half of 2025. In the 2026 World Cup, the number of participants was expanded: there will be 48 teams. The best six among the ten nations that are part of Conmebol (South American Football Confederation) qualify.

The team in seventh place will compete in an intercontinental playoff against a team from Oceania. Last week, Globo announced that it would only play 52 of the 104 games for the 2026 World Cup, in a new contract model that will be inaugurated in the Women’s Cup.