ZEE5 and Unite8 Sports Bring Football’s Biggest Stage to India: 48 Nations, One Emotion, ‘Poora India Watchega’

Rakesh Thapliyal

New Delhi: Football is set to take over screens, conversations, cafés, living rooms, and communities across the country as ZEE5 and Unite8 Sports unveil ‘Poora India Watchega’, a nationwide campaign celebrating the FIFA World Cup 2026™. The World Cup arrives at exactly the right moment. Football careers that define an era are drawing to a close, while a new generation stands ready to rise. And for the first time, 48 nations will take the pitch.

‘Poora India Watchega’ lives in the space between generations of fandom the fan who has carried this sport for decades, the one who tunes in every four years, and the one who is about to fall in love with it this June. It’s a nation discovering football together, each at its own pace but moving as one.

Developed by Talented and mktgstack, the campaign invites all of India into football’s biggest moment. Anchored by a high-energy brand film, directed by Atul Kattukara with First December Films, the campaign captures how football comes alive across homes, streets, cafés, workplaces, and communities during the FIFA World Cup. Through moments of celebration, rivalry, nervous excitement, and shared joy, the film reflects how the sport has the power to bring people together, whether they are die-hard football fans or simply joining in for the excitement of the occasion.

‘Poora India Watchega’ campaign will roll out through strategic brand partnerships, creator-led integrations, and a large-scale digital outreach strategy spanning 200+ websites, alongside visibility across Connected TVs, food and delivery apps, sports apps, and digital sports communities PAN India, making the tournament impossible to miss no matter where audiences are engaging from.

Brand film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8-TUGlbAKA

Kartik Mahadev, Chief Marketing Officer, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. stated, “At ZEE5 and Unite8 Sports, we want the audience to watch FIFA World Cup together. FIFA World Cup is an experience that goes beyond the core football fandom, and ‘Poora India Watchega’ brings that spirit alive. Every four years, football goes beyond its core fans and becomes something everyone wants to be part of. It’s about watching with friends, picking favourite teams overnight, celebrating every goal, and getting swept up in the emotion. Through this campaign, we’ve aimed to make the World Cup feel welcoming, exciting, whether you’ve followed football for years or are tuning in for the first time.”

Adding to this, Bavesh Janavlekar, Chief Business Officer, Unite8 Sports, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd., said, “The FIFA World Cup 2026™ marks a defining moment for global football with legends nearing the end of an era, new stars rising, and an expanded 48-team format making it more inclusive than ever. It’s this scale and cultural impact that makes the tournament bigger than just the sport. ‘Poora India Watchega’ is built for every kind of fan lifelong followers, once-in-four-years viewers, and those discovering the game for the first time bringing an immersive, an experience that connects with audiences across India and helps grow a lasting football culture.”

Karishma Changroth & Sanket Audhi, Founding Members at Talented, “It takes a whole squad playing at the top of their form to bring a campaign of this scale to life. ‘Poora India Watchega’ is powered by high trust, agility and shared ambition across ZEE5, Unite8 Sports, Talented, mktgstack and our production partners at First December Films to create a World Cup experience that feels as big and energetic as the fans it is made for.”

Talented has led the creative and strategic development of ‘Poora India Watchega’. On social and digital, mktgstack, part of the Talented Grid, is building football culture online that makes the tournament feel unmissable, even before kickoff.

The FIFA World Cup 2026™ will be available in Hindi, English, Bangla and Malayalam across ZEE5 and the newly launched Unite8 Sports channels, bringing fans closer to every goal, celebration and unforgettable moment in the language they love.

About FIFA World Cup 2026 on ZEE5 and Unite8

The FIFA World Cup 2026™ marks the beginning of a landmark long-term partnership between Zee Entertainment and FIFA, extending through 2034, to bring the world’s most prestigious football tournaments to audiences across India. Leveraging its two platforms, ZEE5 and Unite8, Zee Entertainment will deliver an unparalleled viewing experience, offering comprehensive coverage of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ in English, Hindi, Bangla, and Malayalam, enabling fans to engage with every moment of the tournament in their preferred language.

The partnership spans an extensive portfolio of marquee FIFA competitions, including the FIFA World Cup 2030™, FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027™, and other premier international tournaments. Through high-quality streaming, rich regional language offerings, and immersive fan-first experiences, ZEE5 and Unite8 aim to bring global football closer to millions of Indian viewers through ‘Poora India Watchega’, their nationwide fan engagement campaign, playing a pivotal role in accelerating the growth of football fandom in the country.

About ZEE5

ZEE5 is India’s leading homegrown video streaming platform and a global destination for South Asian content, available across 190+ countries. With a strong focus on regional storytelling under the philosophy of Apni Bhasha, Apni Kahaniyan, ZEE5 offers content across multiple Indian languages, including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada, and Marathi.