US Department of Justice seizes 400 domain names in Operation Offsides 2026 during the 2026 World Cup

Harriet L. Whitmore • August 27, 2026 21:08

A nasty shock for many web users who regularly rely on these platforms.

In the middle of the 2026 World Cup, a large-scale crackdown has just been announced. The United States Department of Justice has confirmed the seizure of 400 domain names that were being used to stream matches from the tournament illegally.

The action, labelled “Operation Offsides 2026”, was led by the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, working alongside the Washington HSI office and the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS), according to Torrent Freak.

Rights-holders and major broadcasters were involved in the operation too. US authorities coordinated with FIFA, which holds the broadcast rights, as well as beIN Media Group, NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Industry bodies representing entertainment heavyweights, including the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (MPA), also took part.

Seizures carried out in Europe

Commenting on the operation, A. Tysen Duva, Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, said:

"We have seized hundreds of domain names used to illegally stream World Cup matches for profit, in order to dismantle international networks that cash in on the competition’s global popularity."

Looking more closely, the reach of this initiative is clearly international. The Department says servers and domain names connected to illegal World Cup streams were targeted in Peru and Bulgaria. Further takedowns were also carried out in Poland, Colombia and Romania.

As the specialist site reports, the operation may not yet be fully complete and additional domain seizures could still be ongoing. While these moves do deal a blow to piracy, the impact is likely to remain limited given just how widespread illegal match streaming has become.

According to our colleagues, here are around twenty well-known sites whose domains were seized: