World Cup 2026: Free-to-Air Satellite Transponders

FTA Satellite Transponders — mapped to Satline dish-farm positions
The free-to-air World Cup 2026 feeds are spread across at least six orbital positions. This guide maps each confirmed FTA – and free-but-encrypted – broadcaster to the satellite slots Satline locks from its Vilnius and London dish farms, so a headend or SAT>IP build can be planned in a single pass. The tournament runs 11 June – 19 July 2026 (104 matches).

Headend note: Transponder parameters — especially BBC/ITV and the French/Italian multistream feeds — get reshuffled regularly, and broadcasters sometimes add dedicated event transponders for a tournament. Verify each against KingOfSat or LyngSat the week of kickoff, or blind-scan 28.2°E and 19.2°E with an “FTA only” filter.

Quick summary

Satline position	Satellite	Broadcaster (matches)	Status
28.2°E (Vilnius + London)	Astra 2E/2F/2G	BBC + ITV — all 104 (UK)	TRUE FTA — best source
19.2°E (Vilnius)	Astra 1	ARD + ZDF — ~60 incl. final (DE)	TRUE FTA
30.0°W (Vilnius)	Hispasat 30W-5/6	RTVE — La 1 / Teledeporte (ES)	FTA — verify TP
5.0°W (Vilnius + London)	Eutelsat 5 West B	M6 (54) + TF1 / France TV (FR)	Free but ENCRYPTED (Fransat/Viaccess)
13.0°E / 9.0°E (Vilnius)	Hotbird / Eutelsat 9B	RAI + Mediaset (IT)	Mixed — RAI HD mostly encrypted

Best genuinely-FTA positions for a Satline headend: 28.2°E and 19.2°E.

28.2°E — Astra 2E/2F/2G (UK: BBC + ITV) — TRUE FTA

Available in Vilnius and London. BBC/ITV use the UK spot beam, so the London 2.4 m dish is the position that gives a solid lock.

Channel(s)	Freq / Pol	SR	FEC	System	Notes
BBC One HD / BBC Two HD	10847 V	23000	2/3	DVB-S2 8PSK	Astra 2E Tp50
BBC One/Two/Four SD + nations/regions	10773 H	22000	5/6	DVB-S	Tp45
BBC (UK spotbeam feed)	11023 H	—	—	—	Only remaining active UK-spotbeam TP on Astra 2G
ITV1 HD (regional feeds)	11386 H	27500	2/3	DVB-S2	Astra 2E Tp113 (Central West/Granada/Wales/Tyne Tees HD…)
ITV1 HD (more regions)	11344 V	27500	2/3	DVB-S2	Astra 2F

ITV’s HD channels moved onto Astra 2E/2F transponders in September 2024 – discard older lists.

19.2°E — Astra 1 (Germany: ARD + ZDF) — TRUE FTA

Vilnius only. ARD/ZDF carry ~60 of 104 matches including the final; both unencrypted.

Channel(s)	Freq / Pol	SR	FEC	System	Notes
Das Erste HD (ARD)	11494 H	22000	2/3	DVB-S2 8PSK	FTA, 720p
ZDF HD	11362 H	22000	2/3	DVB-S2 8PSK	FTA, 720p

Swiss SRG channels are also at 19.2°E but encrypted — ARD/ZDF are the FTA German feeds.

5.0°W — Eutelsat 5 West B (France: M6/TF1 + France TV) — FREE BUT ENCRYPTED

Vilnius and London. M6 holds 54 free matches in France, but Fransat uses Viaccess (free card required) – not clean FTA.

Channel(s)	Freq / Pol	SR	FEC	System	Notes
TF1, M6, France 5, W9, TMC, TFX, NRJ12, LCP	11096 V	—	—	DVB-S2	Fransat / Viaccess-encrypted
France 2, France 3, France 4, Canal+, Fransat Info	11554 V	—	—	DVB-S2	Fransat / Viaccess-encrypted
French MIS multistream (TF1 / M6 / France TV)	11509 H	29500	8/9	DVB-S2 8PSK	PLS Gold 50416
French MIS — duplicate	12732 V (also 12648 V)	29500	8/9	DVB-S2 8PSK	PLS Gold 50416

13.0°E Hotbird / 9.0°E Eutelsat 9B (Italy: RAI + Mediaset)

Vilnius only. RAI carries the World Cup free in Italy, but RAI’s Hotbird HD feeds are largely Tivùsat-encrypted — verify per channel. Mediaset is reachable via multistream:

Channel(s)	Freq / Pol	SR	FEC	System	Notes
Mediaset multistream	12341 V	31400	5/6	DVB-S2 8PSK	Eutelsat 9B, PLS root 8

30.0°W — Hispasat 30W-5/6 (Spain: RTVE) – FTA, verify TP

Vilnius only. RTVE (La 1 / Teledeporte) carry the tournament free in Spain. Exact current transponder not confirmed in this build – treat as a blind-scan / verify target on KingOfSat or LyngSat before locking tuners.

Channel(s)	Freq / Pol	SR	FEC	System	Notes
La 1 HD	12631 V	30000	3/4	DVB-S2 8PSK	RTVE

Positions with low World Cup value (Satline dish farm)

80°E Express 80, 75°E ABS 2/2A, 68°E G-Sat 20, 36°E Eutelsat 36, 23°E Angosat 2, 16°E Eutelsat 16A, 9°E Eutelsat 9B (beyond Mediaset above), 0.8°W Thor/Intelsat 10-02 (Nordic – Allente, encrypted), 34.5°W Intelsat 35e. These are mostly encrypted platforms or not primary FTA World Cup carriers.

Receiving these through Satline

All six positions above are reachable from our Vilnius and London dish farms – including the UK spot beam, which only locks cleanly from London. Rather than standing up dishes, LNBs and weekly re-verification for a six-week tournament, you can take the same feeds over SAT>IP for exactly the window you need them: our Seasonal Satellite Server is built for time-boxed events like this.

Talk to us about World Cup 2026 capacity

Sources: broadcaster rights confirmed via Live Soccer TV, OneFootball, worldcuppass and worldcupwiki listings; transponder parameters via KingOfSat, LyngSat, satindex.de and satexpat tuning data. Frequencies current as of June 2026 – re-verify before the tournament.