Buenos Aires, August 28, 2025 – Argentines, the beating hearts of world fútbol, and as some of the most passionate, hair-raising fanatics of the biggest game in the world, followers began grieving over the anguish of being snubbed by the Argentine government of Javier Milei after officials confirmed that the nation’s State television agency will not be purchasing broadcasting rights for the highly anticipated 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The decision came as a surprise to millions of residents in Argentina, marking a major break in Argentine tradition, where for decades the State broadcasting network has been dedicated to bringing World Cup matches into the homes of its people since 1974.
In the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022, the Argentines rubbed out the French in the Finals, raising the public image of national hero Lionel Messi to the status of near-deity after the Argentine captain lifted the World Cup trophy for the first time in his career. The third for the Argentine nation.
According to Buenos Aires Times, the decision to pass up on next year’s competition, featuring matches across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, “is more economic than political and relates to President Milei’s “chainsaw” austerity cuts”, still focusing on cutting away leftover government waste and excess after years of economic stagnation and stubborn inflation.
It wasn’t until more recently that the Milei cutbacks and austerity measures, which experts had predicted would push the Argentine economy into a depressed slump of chaos and instability, that officials in Buenos Aires announced that the nation recorded its lowest rate of poverty in six years, boasting the administration’s fiscal successes, and committing to plans to reduce inflation to net zero by the end of 2026.
President Javier Milei campaigned on the issues of fiscal spending, vowing to cut away any waste in sight, on a mission to purge a national habit that has plagued this former South American superpower for decades, where previous governments could not muster the willpower to shake off the temptation of trying to spend the nation out of its economic turmoil.
Milei’s scheme is appearing to work, restoring investor confidence in the nation’s economic environment and bolstering federal reserves.
“We’re not going to spend $7 million on football,” government sources pointed out, referring to steep costs in acquiring transmission rights for the matches.
TV Pública, the public broadcasting station, was the only channel broadcasting matches from the tournament in Germany in 1974. In 1998, coverage was restricted to a few provinces for licensing, and some of them were privately run.
The Milei government has until December to change its course. Matches begin six months later on the 11th of June, 2026, but it seems cuts are already set in stone.
