{"id":654418,"date":"2026-06-17T10:59:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T08:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=654418"},"modified":"2026-06-17T11:06:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T09:06:00","slug":"cheapest-way-to-stream-fifa-world-cup-matches-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/cellular\/654418-cheapest-way-to-stream-fifa-world-cup-matches-in-south-africa.html","title":{"rendered":"Cheapest way to stream FIFA World Cup matches in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The SABC and Vodacom have launched affordable data products for the SABC+ streaming platform, which offers free access to all of South Africa’s FIFA World Cup matches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SABC+ will screen 34 of the tournament’s matches, including all of South Africa’s matches, at no cost on its app and website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, people without access to a fixed broadband connection of some kind at home must still pay for mobile data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through this partnership between the state broadcaster and the telecom giant, Vodacom subscribers can stream the games on SABC+ at reduced data rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This partnership empowers South Africans to engage with live coverage and on-demand content through specially provisioned and discounted data rates,” the SABC said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said that these new data bundles were specifically designed for the SABC+ app, which Vodacom customers can access through its USSD platform by dialling *135#.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“By leveraging Vodacom’s expansive leadership network, SABC Plus users can now access a wide range of affordable data offerings,” the broadcaster said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This will ensure they stay connected to every match, highlight, and moment of the action, even while on the go.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The broadcaster said that the partnership with Vodacom reflected a shared commitment to promoting universal access to public service content so anyone can enjoy the 2026 FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This is a game-changing and perfect partnership, South Africa’s Champion Network and South Africa’s National broadcaster coming together,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new data bundles are built on previous partnerships between the two firms, as Vodacom zero-rated news and education content on SABC+ in March<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SABC+’s official X\/Twitter account at the time announced that Vodacom users could now access certain content on SABC+ at no data cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Stay informed without the worry. Vodacom users can now access trusted news on SABC+ with zero data cost, keeping you connected to the stories that matter,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vodacom customers who use the SABC+ platform can start watching the SABC News, Al Jazeera, and SABC Education live channels without using any mobile data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SABC+ platform has grown quickly following its relaunch, with the broadcaster revealing in February 2026 that it now has over 2 million registered users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New viewership records amid FIFA World Cup<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

SABC+ experienced a surge of users at the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup for the opening match between Bafana Bafana and Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of match, it had recorded 18 million login attempts<\/a>. The surge in traffic caused an outage of the SABC+ platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the broadcaster, a last-minute update it ran, which increased its stream encryption, meant that all users had to re-log into the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This resulted in system instability and a second reset before the platform was stabilised,” the state-owned company said last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The scale of demand last night was unprecedented. SABC+ recorded a peak concurrency of 477,000 simultaneous users, nearly three times its previous record.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over 2.4 million viewers were recorded on the SABC+ platform by the end of the match, setting a new total viewership record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Users on social media expressed their displeasure that the SABC+ platform was down due to login issues, with some reporting issues several hours before the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SABC notified users they would have to log in again only minutes before the match’s start, which contributed to the surge in traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We recognise that the app update notice issued shortly before kick-off added to viewer frustration,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We acknowledge that the timing of this communication fell short of what our viewers deserve.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The broadcaster said its technical teams conducted a full review of the incident and would implement measures to strengthen platform capacity ahead of future matches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vodacom customers can get reduced data rates for streaming FIFA World Cup matches on the SABC+ platform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341213,"featured_media":654421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[25083,104466,105954,361,96857,2924,41],"class_list":["post-654418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-broadcasting","category-cellular","tag-fifa","tag-fifa-world-cup-2026","tag-reduced-data-rates","tag-sabc","tag-sabc-4","tag-streaming","tag-vodacom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654418"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654418"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":654426,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654418\/revisions\/654426"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}