S4C to show every one of Wales’ World Cup games live

S4C have said that they will show every one of Wales’ World Cup games live and in the Welsh language.

The channel’s Chief Executive Sian Doyle, speaking at the Royal Welsh, said that “The relationship between S4C, Cymru and the fans is key to our language.

“S4C will show every Wales game live in the 2022 World Cup – join us for the journey,” she added.

“Mae’r berthynas rhwng @S4C, @Cymru a’r cefnogwyr yn hollbwysig i ddyfodol ein hiaith.” 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

S4C will show every Wales game live in the 2022 World Cup – join us for the journey. 😍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿#Qatar2022 @Cymru pic.twitter.com/KSRGoURKPj

— S4C Chwaraeon 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (@S4Cchwaraeon) July 19, 2022

Wales will play the United States on 21st November, Iran on 25th November and England on 19th November.

S4C has secured broadcasting rights to show the matches of Wales’ men’s national football team from 2022 and 2024.

‘Important’

Speaking in front of the Welsh Affairs Committee last week Sian Doyle said that sports “is core to our strategy”.

“It is an integral part of the channel, because there is such an opportunity to bring a new audience to the channel by having sport. We know that it is a key part of Welsh culture,” she said.

“We have all grown up watching rugby, football or whatever, so we know how important it is. We broadcast about 430 hours of sport, which is about 28% of our provision.

“It brings our large audiences, who then engage with the channel and with Welsh language and Welsh culture. Eight out of 10 of our most popular programmes are sport. Of course, Wales beating Austria and Ukraine helped that and gave it a significant boost.

“One of the challenges that, to be fair, the audience is telling us about is that they do not want to see these big games go behind a paywall. We know that in Wales we have fewer subscriptions behind a paywall compared with the rest of Britain, so we know that people do not want to see that happen.

“Having the Welsh language and Welsh language commentary on major sporting events is important for our audience.”