The FIFA World Cup on Broadcast TV: What Was Watched on YouTube?

Ebirly Inc. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Keisuke Nakagawa; hereinafter "Ebirly") has conducted an analysis of YouTube-related videos for the 2026 FIFA World Cup (hereinafter "World Cup") from June 12 to June 28, 2026 (11,403 videos, totaling 9.0 billion views), comparing the findings with its previous analysis of the World Baseball Classic (hereinafter "WBC").

*This analysis is an interim report covering only up to the group stage (Japan's final group match was on June 26). As the WBC analysis covered the entire tournament period, the comparison between the two events includes some inconsistencies due to differing data collection periods.

Introduction

Even for globally celebrated sporting events, the availability of live television broadcasts significantly influences the nature of content on YouTube. The previous WBC was exclusively streamed on Netflix in Japan, making it inaccessible via traditional TV. As a result, live-viewing and live-commentary formats—where audiences watched together—performed strongly on YouTube. In contrast, the June 2026 World Cup was broadcast live on terrestrial television and DAZN, making it widely accessible through conventional TV. This fundamental difference shaped what content was viewed on YouTube and how it was consumed. We examine these dynamics by comparing the current World Cup with the previous WBC.

WBC Analysis Report

1. What Was Watched: Entertainment-Focused Shorts Outperformed Highlights

With live broadcasts available on terrestrial TV, what kind of content was consumed on YouTube during the World Cup? When categorized by content type, the most-watched were entertainment and meme-style short videos centered on iconic moments or players, accounting for 32.5% of views. Official match footage and highlights followed closely at 29.6%. Notably, entertainment-focused content surged—approximately 2.9 times higher than the 11.3% seen during the WBC. Football fans particularly engaged with secondary creative content such as humorous skits, trivia, player backstories, and reimagined classic scenes, rather than raw match footage. For example, parody videos based on the anime "Captain Tsubasa," or affectionate shorts like "The World's Cutest Inazuma Ito Junya," each garnered millions of views.

2. Biggest Difference from WBC: Live Content Performed Better During WBC

The most significant difference from the WBC lies in live-streamed content. Although live streams accounted for 17% of total video volume in this tournament, they captured only 3.3% of total views—just 30.14 million views. This is about one-third of the WBC's 11.1% share and 60.35 million views. Two main factors likely contributed. First, the viewing environment: with live broadcasts available on terrestrial TV and DAZN, there was less need to watch on YouTube. Second, differences in official influencer engagement. During the WBC, Netflix-certified creators led live co-viewing and fan-support streams, boosting live viewership. While FIFA also partnered with global creators—including Ryo from Tokai On Air—for the World Cup, their content focused on behind-the-scenes footage and special features rather than real-time co-viewing. This difference in official creator strategy appears to have significantly impacted live-stream performance.

3. Star Power Was Diffused: Contrasting the "Ohtani-Dominated" WBC

Audience interest in individual players also differed from the WBC. During the WBC, Shohei Ohtani alone captured nearly 27% of total views, demonstrating a clear single-player dominance. In contrast, during the World Cup, even the most-viewed Japanese player, Daichi Kamada, accounted for only about 8% of total views. Interest was more broadly distributed among key players such as Ayase Ueda and Takefusa Kubo. Even Lionel Messi, the most-watched international player, reached 27.75 million views—less than half of the top Japanese players' totals. On Japanese YouTube, neither a single dominant star nor international players emerged as the central focus; instead, attention was spread across multiple members of the Japanese national team.

4. Peak Engagement Around Japan's Matches, Viewing Peaks the Day After

Daily viewing data shows a clear correlation between Japan's matches and audience spikes, with viewership for all three games surging the day after the match rather than on match day. The Netherlands match (June 15) peaked on June 16, the Tunisia match (June 21) on June 22, and the Sweden match (June 26) on June 27. Even the Tunisia game, played on a Sunday afternoon, saw its highest viewership the following day. Given that most matches kicked off in the late night or early morning in Japan due to the North and Central American time zone, it appears that many viewers who couldn't watch live caught up the next day with highlights and clips. This "post-match day surge" pattern mirrors the trend observed during the previous WBC, suggesting a consistent cross-event phenomenon: sports-related videos are more widely consumed the day after the actual event.

Summary

The 2026 World Cup on YouTube was defined by the availability of live broadcasts on television, which shaped both the type of content consumed and viewing behaviors. The core viewing shifted toward highlights and short-form entertainment content based on iconic moments and players, while live-stream viewership reached only about one-third of the WBC's level. A key underlying factor was the absence of official, coordinated live-viewing initiatives like those driven by Netflix-certified creators during the WBC. Interest was distributed across multiple Japanese national team players rather than centered on a single star, and post-match day viewing of compiled content was prominent. While the WBC saw YouTube complement live broadcasts, the 2026 World Cup emerged as an event where audiences primarily used YouTube for convenient access to highlights and short-form entertainment. This report is interim; updates will follow after the knockout stages.

About the YouTube Data Analysis Tool "kamui tracker"

"kamui tracker" is a comprehensive YouTube data analytics tool with one of Japan's largest YouTube video databases. It provides essential metrics such as view counts, subscriber numbers, and engagement rates, along with competitive channel analysis, trending video identification, and effective influencer partnership recommendations—covering all data needs for YouTube channel management.

These features enable data-driven, objective decision-making and accelerate channel growth.

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*YouTube is a trademark or registered trademark of its respective owners. Names used herein are for descriptive purposes only in the context of this research.

Source: kamui tracker analysis of 2026 World Cup-related videos (as of June 12–26, 2026, preliminary data). Latest figures may increase. Content categorization is based on titles, channel names, and descriptions, with manual visual corrections applied; minor errors may exist. Comparison includes WBC 2026 analysis.

Ebirly Inc.

Address: 12F, MFPR Shibuya Building, 1-2-5 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Representative: President and CEO Keisuke Nakagawa Capital: 329.7 million JPY (including capital reserves) Employees: 52 (full-time only, as of April 2026) URL: https://eviry.com

Business Overview

SaaS Business ・Cloud video delivery system "millvi" ・Cloud video delivery platform "millvi Portal" ・YouTube data analysis tool "kamui tracker"

Solution Business ・YouTube channel management service "kamui production" ・Influencer marketing "kamui connect" ・Various video production services ・Live streaming services