ESPN FIFA World Cup 2026 Live Scoreboard Scraper
SPORTSAI
ESPN FIFA World Cup 2026 Live Scoreboard Scraper
Pulls live scores, match status, venue details, broadcast networks, and US sportsbook odds for FIFA World Cup 2026 matches from ESPN's undocumented public API (site.api.espn.com). No authentication, no proxy, no cost to run during the tournament window.
What It Does
- Fetches all matches for today (default) or for any list of dates you provide
- Exposes broadcast network names (FOX, Telemundo, etc.) that the official FIFA API does not carry
- Surfaces US sportsbook moneyline / over-under / spread from ESPN's competition odds array when available
- Returns match progress data for in-play games: period, clock, and last play description
- Runs in seconds — one HTTP call per date, no pagination needed
Why ESPN's API
ESPN's site.api.espn.com is the same undocumented endpoint powering the mrbridge/espn-mcp-server (91 users) and hgservices/apify-actor-espn (50 users). It is open, stable, and free to call. The fifa.world league slug pins the feed to World Cup events only — no noise from other competitions.
Input
| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
dates |
Array | today | One or more dates in YYYYMMDD format. Leave empty for today's games. |
maxItems |
Integer | — | Cap on total records returned (0 = unlimited). |
Example input
{
"dates": ["20260625", "20260626"],
"maxItems": 20
}
Output
Each record corresponds to one scheduled, live, or completed match. Fields:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
event_id |
ESPN event ID |
event_name |
Full match name (e.g. "Argentina at France") |
short_name |
Short abbreviation (e.g. "ARG vs FRA") |
date_utc |
Match start time in UTC ISO format |
status |
pre / in / post |
status_detail |
Human-readable status (e.g. "Final", "Halftime", "90'+8'") |
period |
Current period/half (1 or 2) |
clock |
Match clock display string |
home_team_name / away_team_name |
Full team display names |
home_team_abbreviation / away_team_abbreviation |
Three-letter codes |
home_team_score / away_team_score |
Goals |
home_team_record / away_team_record |
Record summary (e.g. "2-0-0") |
venue_name |
Stadium name |
venue_city |
City/state |
venue_country |
Country |
broadcast_networks |
Comma-separated broadcast network names (e.g. "FOX, Telemundo") |
moneyline_home / moneyline_away |
American-format moneyline odds or null |
over_under |
Over/under total or null |
spread |
Point spread or null |
sportsbook |
Sportsbook provider name or null |
last_play |
Most recent play description for in-progress matches |
source |
Always espn.com |
Notes
- Odds (
moneyline_*,over_under,spread) are ESPN-sourced from the US sportsbook partner. They appear before and during matches but not after completion. - The
datesfield supports multi-date backfill — useful for building a full tournament dataset or catching up after a missed window. - Rate is politely throttled at 1 request/second to avoid hammering the ESPN endpoint.