How to stream live video from World Cup 2026 to the audience
The 2026 FIFA World Cup has ended its group stage, now entering the round of 16. Throughout all 104 matches in 16 cities in the US, Canada and Mexico, one of the most impressive technologies was the huge number of cameras with 45 used for each match.
Filming is the first step in bringing live images to all over the world, undertaken by Host Broadcast Services (HBS), a company founded in 2002 in Switzerland. Instead of each television station sending a crew to record, this company deploys the entire camera system, mobile television van, recording equipment, sound and production infrastructure at the competition site, then produces international standard content.
Television stations that own the copyright, such as Vietnam Television (VTV), will receive the signal to broadcast to the audience. The "station" can add commentary, graphics, interviews or pre- and post-match programming, while live images on the field are produced by HBS, ensuring that every audience sees the same visual signal with consistent quality and camera angles.
Filming system
At the European Football Conference in February in Brussels (Belgium), Oscar Sanchez, in charge of FIFA's television department, and Paul King, senior producer at HBS, said that compared to previous years, this year's World Cup is designed more methodically and synchronously because it takes place simultaneously in three countries.
Specifically, each stadium has 45 cameras controlled by people, mounted in corners, on poles and using cables. These include high-definition cameras, reference cameras, 360-degree cameras and what King describes as "digital-first" devices - which can use products such as smartphones like iPhones to record footage.
"When we look at camera placement plans, we don't just install broadcast cameras," King said. "We included all types of cameras that could be used to shoot content from a variety of sources."
From round 1/16 onwards, the system is upgraded with two additions: Ultra Motion (UM) camera and Super Slow Motion (SSM) camera. SSM is used frequently in replays, while UM is extremely high speed, only appearing in some important positions such as behind the goal or near the touchline to capture outstanding moments with the best detail.
RefCam, a camera mounted on the referee's body, is also available after testing at the 2022 World Cup. A small camera is mounted on the head referee's headset, the image is wirelessly transmitted to the television vehicle, then AI is used to process anti-shake before broadcasting or replaying.
RefCam, or Referee View in FIFA language, was deployed in all 104 matches. However, Sanchez noted, video data from this camera is not a standard source for media partners but only serves certain situations that need to be used.
Camera systems and a number of hardware and software solutions are manufactured based on Riedel technology (Germany). According to AVNetwork, if HBS is the "director" that creates the World Cup television signal, Riedel is the "nervous system" that connects the entire production system while providing a transmission and communication network for hundreds of cameras, television vehicles, control rooms, referees and technical crew to operate synchronously throughout the tournament.
Another company, Lenovo, undertakes AI image stabilization software to smooth out shaky footage, with a smoothness level of up to 50%.
This year, HBS also promoted cable cameras. Also known as a "flying camera", the system hangs on four cables above the field, allowing the camera to follow each counterattack, lower close to the grass or fly along the length of the field with a stable image. This is a camera angle that helps the audience clearly observe the tactical space and movement rhythm of the players, something that is difficult to show with fixed cameras in the stands.
The 2026 World Cup recording system also includes professional cinema cameras (cine-style cameras), which have proven their value at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. According to Dan Miodownik, CEO of HBS, this is "the best recording device" for tunnel shots, fan moments and close-ups with shallow depth of field that conventional television cameras cannot achieve.
HBS's equipment is separate from video assistant referee (VAR) technology, goal-line technology or ball trajectory tracking system. VAR has 10-14 specialized cameras at each stadium, placed in specific positions to simultaneously monitor 29 basic data points on each player instead of simply recording images.
"The Brain" in Dallas
Camera data recording matches from three countries will be transmitted to the IBC International Broadcast Center located at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas. This area is 45,000 square meters wide, receiving all signals from cameras at 16 stadiums through Verizon network infrastructure, with a transmission bandwidth of about 7 Tb/s.
To ensure continuous operation, HBS still arranges a number of technicians to be in charge of replays in the stadiums as backup when the connection has problems. However, the majority of the team is concentrated in IBC.
Here, hundreds of technicians work in control rooms to produce live television signals. They select shooting angles from dozens of cameras, control slow motion and playback, insert graphics, scores, and statistics, and calibrate colors, process sound, and monitor signal quality before creating an international broadcast. All stages take place in real time with low latency to ensure match images are transmitted live around the world.
"Concentrating all activities at a single facility helps bring together the best experts, so they can participate in producing many matches," King said.
After completing the live production stage, HBS creates World Feed - the match's standard television signal solution. This is the original broadcast source distributed from IBC to hundreds of copyright-owning television stations globally. From there, each station will add commentary, graphics, advertising... before broadcasting to domestic audiences.
In addition to IBC, HBS also operates a post-production and editing center in London, continuing the model used in the 2023 Women's Football World Cup. During the tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico, FIFA plans to produce about 9,000 hours of content, including matches, pre- and post-match shows, interviews, behind-the-scenes and digital content.
To ensure network infrastructure, Verizon deployed a private 5G network at 16 stadiums, designed to cover the entire competition area, serving applications requiring high bandwidth and low latency, including the Lenovo RefCam system mounted on the referee. In addition, across 11 stadiums in the US, Verizon increased public 5G network capacity by 3-5 times to meet the needs of tens of thousands of spectators when streaming live, downloading videos and accessing match data at the same time.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said that with the most advanced recording system at the 2026 World Cup, he expects the audience to "like enjoying 104 Super Bowls", the final match of the American Professional Football League (NFL) - the sporting event with the largest viewership in this country.
Red Shark News assessed that Infantino seemed to be exaggerating because Super Bowl LX had up to 175 cameras involved in production, as well as a larger number of viewers than the 2026 World Cup matches that took place. However, this is still a World Cup that attracts a record number of viewers, with more than 3.6 million spectators coming to the stadiums even though the tournament has only gone through half of the matches.
Bao Lam compiled