World Cup Streamers See Surge in Connectivity Issues
Ookla reports a large number of viewers tuning into the tournament have caused outages.
WASHINGTON, June 23, 2026 – As the world tunes in to watch the World Cup, streaming issues have spiked due to large audiences, causing viewers to miss key moments, internet metrics and diagnostics company Ookla reports.
Using Downdetector data, the company found Canada’s two broader sports streaming services generated 224 reported issues over the same period, a number higher than the pre-tournament baseline. Four U.S. streaming services experienced 2,213 reported issues that were in line with the daily average.
Short incidents have caused viewers to miss key moments, with Ookla recording 108 outage incidents across six services, with an average incident time lasting 23 minutes. Across recorded incidents, 62 percent took place between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m., with 56 percent of reported issues taking place during weekends.
“U.S. incidents had a 20-minute median, while the five Canada-service incidents had a 24-minute median,” wrote European lead analyst for Ookla, Luke Kehoe, in a report. “Those figures look fairly contained in normal service terms. In soccer, however, 20 to 25 minutes can include the passage from buildup to goal, a penalty decision, a red card and the social media reaction that follows.”
Viewers tune into the World Cup using a hybrid of broadcast, direct streaming, pay TV, free ad-supported access and mobile-first product design. Canada experienced record streaming growth during the opening weekend of the sporting event, creating different challenges with connectivity due to app updates, congested Wi-Fi, ISP issues, etc.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup runs from June 11 to July 19 across 16 cities in North America, bringing 104 matches and 48 teams to a global TV and streaming audience.
It is anticipated that roughly 6 billion people will tune into the soccer tournament, making it the single most-watched sporting event in media history. Mexico v South Africa drew in 13.4 million views across Peacock and Telemundo. A Canadian media company, Bell Media, found that 16.9 million Canadians tuned in for the opening four days.
