FIFA+ launch features thousands of live matches

FIFA’s recent FIFA+ launch brings the newest streaming platform to soccer fans in the world.

The International Federation of Association Football claims that over 40,000 games will air in 2022. These come from men’s, women’s and youth competitions under the FIFA umbrella. Moreover, 29,000 of these games are men’s matches. Then, over 11,000 of the viewable fixtures are women’s soccer. Perhaps the best part about the platform is that it is free, at least for the time being.

There appears to be a wide range of live matches available on FIFA Plus. For example, this week, some games featured on FIFA+ include the Danish Superliga, the Latvian Optibet Virsliga, the Mongolian First League, Nepal Women’s Football League, Brazil’s U-20 league and more.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino says the aim of the platform is to make the game more inclusive.

“FIFA Plus represents the next step in our vision to make football [soccer] truly global and inclusive. It underpins FIFA’s core mission of expanding and developing football globally.

This project represents a cultural shift in the way different types of football fans want to connect with and explore the global game and has been a fundamental part of my Vision 2020-2023. It will accelerate the democratization of football and we are delighted to share it with fans.”

Although the streaming service is currently free for users, FIFA has made it clear that they could add a subscription fee in the future. “We’ll be strategically extending – so we will be potentially going into gaming, social community, and potentially subscription depending on where this goes and where the industry disruption heads,” claimed Charlotte Burr, Director of Strategy & Corporate Development at FIFA.

FIFA+ Launch

The 40,000 matches this year come from domestic leagues all over the world. This includes major European competitions, all the way down to leagues previously unavailable to many fans. For now, around 1,400 live matches per month air on FIFA Plus. FIFA plans to add more to the schedule throughout the calendar year.

Along with live matches, the FIFA+ launch also allows access to every FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup previously recorded by camera. Each World Cup fixture from the 1950s to 2019 is available on the service. These are only past World Cups archived by FIFA. Upcoming games in the Qatar World Cup are not available on the service.

New content

However, FIFA Plus does not solely focus on live or pre-recorded matches. The service also streams news, stats, highlights, interactive games, and a host of new original content. Among the original shows/documentaries include Ronaldinho: The Happiest Man in the World. This documentary film follows the iconic Brazilian superstar.

Another example is HD Cutz, a docuseries featuring soccer players and their celebrity barber Sheldon Edwards. Captains explores the leadership qualities and traits of several captains throughout the international side of the game. Some players highlighted in the series are Luka Modrić (Croatia), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon), Brian Kaltak (Vanuatu), Andre Blake (Jamaica), Hassan Maatouk (Lebanon), and Thiago Silva (Brazil). Finally, Croatia: Defining a Nation, is a full-length documentary about how the sport helps unite the country and a group of friends during extremely tough times.

The streaming service is currently available in English, Spanish, German, French, and Portuguese. However, FIFA plans to add six more languages by June 2022. Although there is no app for FIFA+ at the moment, the platform can be accessed via the website.