DOJ says it seized more than 1,000 domains used to stream 2026 World Cup matches illegally

The Justice Department said July 20 that federal investigators had seized more than 1,000 internet domains allegedly used to distribute unauthorized streams of FIFA World Cup 2026 matches, making the operation one of the largest copyright-enforcement actions described in the department’s announcement.

The seizures were carried out in three separate actions during the tournament. DOJ said nearly 400 domains had already been seized by the end of June, before the total rose above 1,000.

How the operation unfolded

The investigation was led by the Washington Field Office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, or HSI, together with the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center. The coordination center works on intellectual-property enforcement, and the operation focused on websites that the government alleged were being used to provide unauthorized access to World Cup broadcasts.

DOJ said the alleged conduct violated U.S. copyright law. The department’s announcement identified the domains as tools for illegally streaming FIFA World Cup final matches, but it did not provide a complete list of the domains or the people and organizations operating them.

The World Cup was hosted across the United States, Canada and Mexico. That geographic reach placed the tournament’s digital distribution across a North American market where online access to matches involved rights holders, streaming operators and viewers in multiple countries, while the federal seizure actions described by DOJ were conducted through U.S. agencies.

What the seizures mean

For sports-rights holders, the operation represents a direct federal response to unauthorized digital distribution during a major event. Broadcast and streaming rights depend on controlling how matches are distributed. Domains alleged to be carrying unauthorized streams can compete with authorized services and undermine the commercial arrangements that support those broadcasts.

For online viewers, the immediate documented consequence is that more than 1,000 domains identified by investigators were seized. The action also signals that federal investigators were monitoring unauthorized distribution during the tournament rather than treating sports streaming piracy as only a private dispute between rights holders and website operators.

The operation may also matter beyond soccer. A large, coordinated domain-seizure effort gives copyright owners and enforcement agencies a public example of how alleged digital piracy can be pursued across many websites at once. Future cases involving live sports, entertainment or other copyrighted programming could draw on the same enforcement approach, although the announcement does not say that any particular future case will follow.

What the announcement does not establish

DOJ’s release establishes that the government conducted the seizures and made allegations about the domains’ use. It does not establish that every operator was criminally convicted, that every domain independently generated commercial piracy revenue or that users of the sites were prosecuted.

The announcement also does not provide a complete accounting of the domains, their operators or any final court outcomes. It does not identify a further deadline or next proceeding. The known timeline is limited to the three seizure actions during the tournament, the nearly 400 domains seized by the end of June and the department’s July 20 announcement that the total had exceeded 1,000.