BANGKOK, June 11, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Thai sports broadcaster JAS will air the World Cup in the Southeast Asian country, the company's chief executive said, clinching an eleventh-hour deal for domestic rights to the football tournament that kicks off Thursday.

The United States is co-hosting the World Cup with Canada and Mexico, with the first match in Mexico City.

Thailand have never reached the tournament but football is wildly popular there -- and it was one of the last Southeast Asian countries without a confirmed broadcasting deal with the the biggest World Cup in history around the corner.

Soraj Asavaprapha, chief executive of JAS (Jasmine International), said the company had obtained exclusive domestic rights from FIFA for live broadcasts of this World Cup and the next one in 2030.

"The deal for two World Cups and all FIFA sports events from today until 2030 is $70 million," he said.

"Thais will not have to keep fingers crossed when the next World Cup is coming."

Nualphan Lamsam, president of Thailand's football association, said that although no Southeast Asian nations had qualified, "watching the World Cup should inspire young footballers".

Uncertainty over the broadcast rights had moved Thailand's prime minister to reassure fans that they would not miss out.

"Previous governments ensured free access to the World Cup, and my administration should not be an exception," Anutin Charnvirakul said last month.

Thailand struggled to secure live rights for the previous tournament in 2022, before the Sports Authority of Thailand finalised a last-minute reported $33 million deal with FIFA, funded by the NBTC regulator and private partners including telecom giant True Corp.

Broadcast rights have also been finalised in neighbouring Myanmar, where Mytel telecoms company -- part-owned by the military -- has won rights to carry the matches on TV, online, the internet and radio, according to FIFA.

Myanmar's military toppled the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in a 2021 coup, sparking a vicious civil war and a new era of political repression.

The United States, one of the World Cup host nations, sanctioned Mytel last year "for providing surveillance services and financial support to Burma's military regime".

Their support was "enabling the regime to carry out human rights abuses through the tracking and identification of target individuals and groups", the sanction order said.