Netflix is converting its successful football podcast The Rest Is Football into a daily studio show for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, betting that smart analysis and big personalities can engage global fans between matches without needing to bid against live match rights.
What Netflix is launching for its World Cup daily show
Latterly, the streaming service will produce a made-for-TV version of the podcast during the tournament with production company Goalhanger and anchored from a studio in New York.
- What Netflix is launching for its World Cup daily show
- Lineker, Shearer and Richards bring the star power
- A strategic play in sports without buying rights
- Competition from Apple and Amazon sets aggressive benchmarks
- Production details and the viewer experience explained
- What to watch next as Netflix tests a daily World Cup show
Episodes are scheduled to be released daily, as correspondents drop in from official fan zones and team bases across the three host nations. Look for a reverse-engineered format, with plenty of analysis at the top intended to fit into viewers’ morning routines and nightly recaps, while also serving as a reliable destination for highlights, context and post-match talking points.
Most importantly, it is not live match coverage but shoulder programming. That means Netflix can maraud the World Cup shockwave worldwide, but avoid getting involved in costly bidding wars for broadcast rights on a market-by-market basis. It also plays to the platform’s strengths: personality-led storytelling, quick production turnaround and on-demand distribution across time zones.
Lineker, Shearer and Richards bring the star power
Front and center are Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards — whose chemistry has seen The Rest Is Football become one of the world’s most listened-to sports podcasts. Lineker is a former England captain and experienced broadcaster, Shearer is the Premier League’s all-time leading scorer and Richards offers the combination of top-flight experience and charisma that travels well on camera and social media.
The podcast’s audience numbers indicate momentum Netflix can tap into. The show has averaged more than 7 million monthly streams and soared into tens of millions of downloads and YouTube views over the course of the last major international tournament in Europe. It’s an easy brand fit and a proven tone for Netflix, if you want to start with: tactical insights, insider gossip and unmediated jokes.
A strategic play in sports without buying rights
For Netflix, a daily World Cup program represents a pragmatic twist in its shifting sports strategy. The company has gradually expanded from docuseries to live events and weekly franchises, like WWE Raw, novelty live exhibitions like The Netflix Cup, selected boxing cards and holiday NFL games that brought record streaming audiences in the United States, according to company statements and Nielsen coverage.
The strategy reflects a broader content thesis: own the conversation around sports even when you don’t happen to own the matches. It has been widely acknowledged by teams and promoters that documentary franchises like Drive to Survive have helped grow fan bases and drive interest from younger viewers. A daily World Cup show applies that playbook to the biggest tournament in world football, and at a fraction of the cost of match rights.
Competition from Apple and Amazon sets aggressive benchmarks
Rivals have set aggressive benchmarks. Apple’s global deal lasting a decade in Major League Soccer led to one single subscription service; Amazon’s exclusive Thursday Night Football package reliably draws eight-figure audiences, according to Nielsen. With those precedents, Netflix is honing in on personality-led formats that can scale internationally without regional blackout headaches.
If The Rest Is Football World Cup edition lands, Netflix has something repeatable for other international tentpoles: tournaments where pre- and post-match coverage, features and fan interaction can command serious focus even if the live rights are tied up elsewhere.
Production details and the viewer experience explained
Shooting in New York puts the show in one of the tournament’s media centers, and closer to traveling guests, sponsors and fan activations. Also look for recurring short segments designed to be consumed quickly on a mobile platform, quick-hit highlights packages where licensed and a constant stream of player and coach interviews. Reporters in England and from key fan zones will report crowd color and grassroots stories back to the studio, adding a multi-country feel that reflects the tournament.
Distribution will matter. Netflix can surface episodes on its global home screen, slot them into the ad-supported tier for broader availability and sync drop times with key match windows. The podcast’s existing listeners offer it inherent cross-promotion — on audio feeds and social channels — to build a flywheel between platforms.
What to watch next as Netflix tests a daily World Cup show
Three variables will determine the impact: how much footage from the show is available in each territory, how regularly it secures A-listers given cramped team media schedules and how successfully it localizes for fans outside Europe. Netflix, of course, is a streaming culture power player with an impressively global footprint; if the company manages to thread those needles just so, it could carve out space for a daily World Cup companion anchored by Lineker, Shearer and Richards that would easily represent the streamer’s most visible sports format to date — not to mention a blueprint for tournaments ahead.
