Fox misses Shakira and live action as ad breaks overshadow World Cup 2026 opener

Fox faced a backlash over its coverage of the World Cup 2026 opener between Mexico and South Africa at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on Thursday, after repeated commercial breaks caused viewers to miss live action and the broadcaster skipped Shakira’s headline performance in the opening ceremony altogether.

With hydration breaks mandatory throughout the tournament — a safety measure introduced following excessive heat during last year’s Club World Cup — Fox cut to full-screen advertisements during each of the two three-minute pauses per half. Three to four adverts ran during every break, and when coverage resumed the match was already back underway, leaving audiences without a complete picture of the game.

The ceremony criticism ran separately. Shakira, performing alongside Burna Boy, headlined the pre-match show with the song ‘Dai Dai’, but Fox’s feed cut instead to four studio analysts in an empty Los Angeles stadium. The broadcaster did air other sections of the ceremony — the procession of flags from all 48 participating nations, a performance by Andrea Bocelli and EJAE, and both national anthems — but the omission of the tournament’s marquee act drew immediate anger from viewers.

Fox’s approach stood in sharp contrast to that of UK broadcaster ITV and Spanish-language rights holder Telemundo, both of which showed the opening ceremony in full and kept cameras on the pitch during the hydration breaks. ITV commentators Jon Champion and Ally McCoist used the pauses to discuss the game’s key talking points while players received drinks and instructions on the sideline. ITV had the option to sell advertising during the breaks and had even trialled in-picture ads during this year’s Six Nations, but publicly committed before the tournament to not cutting away.

According to Sports Business Journal, Fox has adopted a hybrid approach to the hydration breaks, choosing between commercials and analysis depending on the situation — a strategy that, on the evidence of the opening fixture, has already drawn scrutiny.

With FIFA planning three separate opening ceremonies across the co-hosted tournament — one ahead of each host nation’s first match in the United States, Canada, and Mexico — and hydration breaks guaranteed in every game, the pressure on broadcasters to balance commercial interests against viewer experience is unlikely to ease as the competition progresses.