News
09.07.2026
Once again, all live online broadcasts of the FIFA World Cup matches are reaching Bulgarian viewers through the Evolink CDN network. For nearly a month now, our infrastructure has carried every goal, every penalty and every yellow card to online audiences across the country.
Now it is time to share what we saw.
Where the Matches Are Watched Live Online
In Bulgaria, the broadcasting rights are held by the public broadcaster: BNT is airing all 104 matches of the tournament on BNT 1 and BNT 3. Online, the matches are streamed live on BNT’s website - tv.bnt.bg - and, in partnership with Sportal, on bnt.sportal.bg. Both platforms run on Evolink’s streaming service.
Wherever you are, the match is only one click away.
One Month of Football, Seen Through the Network
The chart below shows the load on Evolink CDN from the first whistle on 11 June to the end of the Round of 16 on 7 July. Every peak is a match. The higher the peak, the more viewers were watching online at the same time.
The result looks almost like the heartbeat of football-loving Bulgaria: one month in which the pulse rose every evening.
Traffic to viewers of the live broadcasts, 11 June – 7 July 2026. Values are relative.
What the Peaks Tell Us
Football did not beat sleep. Evening matches starting at 19:00, 20:00 and 22:00 attracted significantly larger audiences than those kicking off at 01:00 and 04:00.
The group stage had its favourites. The strongest days in the first two weeks coincided with the major European clashes. On 17 June, England defeated Croatia 4:2, while on 22 June Argentina scored twice against Austria. Both days stand out clearly as higher spikes in the heartbeat chart.
The knockout stage raised the bar. From 28 June onwards, every direct elimination match pushed interest higher, step by step. The day featuring Brazil – Japan, which ended 2:1, and the surprise result Germany – Paraguay, 3:4, surpassed everything seen during the group stage.
The records fell in the Round of 16. On 6 July, the Iberian derby Spain – Portugal, ending 1:0, almost doubled the strongest days from the group phase. Just 24 hours later, Argentina – Egypt, which finished 3:2, broke that record as well. These two consecutive days were among the busiest in the history of our online sports broadcasts.
The Technology Behind the Experience
Behind each of these curves stands a distributed CDN infrastructure of origin and edge servers, real-time transcoding, adaptive bitrate streaming for every connection speed, and capacity planned so that record-breaking interest does not turn into a spinning loading wheel.
Throughout the tournament, the live broadcasts ran without interruption, including during the two record-breaking days when traffic doubled within hours.
The Most Exciting Part Is Still Ahead
From this point on, every match is a final. The quarter-finals take place from 9 to 12 July, the semi-finals on 14 and 15 July, and the grand final will be played on 19 July at MetLife Stadium near New York.
Judging by the chart, the highest peak has not yet been drawn.
Watch the matches live online at tv.bnt.bg and bnt.sportal.bg.
