Almost 3,000 websites have been blocked or seized for illegally streaming World Cup matches, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said. More than 1,000 domains were shut down in the US alone, with a similar number blocked in Colombia. Enforcement agencies in America and across South America carried out the action under investigations named "operation offsides" and "operation red card".

Ivan J. Arvelo, director of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (NIPRCC), said unauthorised broadcasting violated intellectual property rights and "fuels criminal organizations". The DOJ's assistant attorney general A. Tysen Duva said the effort confirms the administration's commitment to intellectual property rights and the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) oversaw the enforcement.

Charles Rivkin, chairman of the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), said the World Cup was the "kind of global live event that piracy networks move quickly to exploit". The crackdown was supported by FIFA, beIN Media Group, NBC Universal, UFC, and Warner Brothers. In Colombia, four members of the cybercriminal group Los Ciberinfiltrados were arrested for distributing illegal access. Another 830 websites in Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and the Dominican Republic were taken down, and 11 people were convicted for counterfeit sports merchandise.