The New Football Viewer

A joint audience insights white paper by Ipsos in MENA and TOD by beIN

The World Cup 2026 presented audiences across the Middle East and North Africa with an unusual viewing challenge. Hosted across the United States, Canada and Mexico, many fixtures fell late at night or in the early hours across MENA. Rather than reducing interest, the schedule revealed a more intentional football viewer: one who continued to prioritise live matches, but adapted what, when and where to watch according to match importance, national identity and platform context.

This white paper combines Ipsos survey research in Egypt, Morocco, Jordan and the UAE with observed viewing behaviour on TOD by beIN and performance data from its owned social channels. The different sources answer complementary questions: Ipsos captures what viewers said they did, TOD by beIN platform data records what audiences watched, and social data shows how the experience continued beyond the live stream.

Live football remained the centre of the tournament experience. Nearly nine in ten TOD by beIN viewers watched live, with live reach increasing from 88% in the group stage to 98% in the knockout rounds. This coincided with more MENA-friendly scheduling: 53% of knockout fixtures began between 7:00 PM and 11:00 PM Mecca time, compared with 36% of group-stage matches.

Yet timing was only part of the explanation. Knockout fixtures attracted 77% more unique viewers per match, while VOD usage fell to 40%, indicating that audiences increasingly concentrated their attention around the tournament’s most consequential moments.

Watching fewer matches did not mean fans were less engaged, it meant they were choosing more carefully. Viewers used highlights, replays and multiple screens to remain connected when watching every fixture live was impractical. Highlights on TOD recorded 86% weighted completion. Mobile phones and televisions reached 77% and 63% of the tournament audience respectively, revealing a fluid viewing journey in which fans moved between screens depending on where they were, who they were watching with and how important the match was.

National and regional identity remained powerful drivers. Arab-team fixtures generated 30% more unique viewers than comparable non-Arab fixtures during the group stage and 21% more during the knockouts. Four of TOD by beIN’s ten most-watched matches featured Arab nations.

At the same time, the Affinity analysis by TOD by beIN across 20+ operational markets showed that MENA is not one uniform football audience. Some markets followed a wide range of teams and stories; others concentrated intensely around their national side.

Engagement also extended beyond the match. TOD by beIN’s owned social channels generated 4.05 billion impressions, 3.07 billion video views and 81.7 million engagements during the reporting period. Its World Cup 2026 full-highlights playlist on YouTube generated 66.4 million views and 7.39 million watch hours. Platform viewing was more strongly shaped by team affinity, while social highlights drew attention to global stars, decisive moments and highly shareable storylines.

Football fandom in MENA has evolved. The match remains live at its core, but the experience is increasingly intentional, flexible, connected and shaped by the distinct identities of audiences across the region.

This paper examines one central question:

How did MENA audiences adapt their football viewing behaviour to the unusual timing, expanded scale and cultural dynamics of the World Cup 2026?

Despite challenging kick-off times, football fans across MENA remained deeply committed to the sport. Streaming gave them the flexibility to experience the tournament on their own terms, watching key matches live, catching up through highlights and replays, moving between screens, and staying connected through social content and online conversation.

This viewership trends can be understood through four connected behaviours:

•    Intentionality: viewers concentrated attention around decisive fixtures, favourite teams and major players.
•    Flexibility: audiences moved between live, catch-up, highlights and different devices.
•    Connection: the match continued through social platforms, creators, reactions and shared viewing.
•    Identity: national, regional and international loyalties shaped which teams and moments mattered most.

 
Click here to request the full report for all the data and insights. 

For more information, please reach out to: 
Yann Colleter - New-Media Growth Lead: [email protected]