Broadcast giant Fox is ramping up coverage for the upcoming World Cup and is finally making the plunge into high definition.

For soccer and “football” fans in the U.S. and abroad, it’s about time. The world’s most beautiful game rarely looks like it in old-fashioned standard definition. Faces are blurry and the grass looks dull green.

Only problem is, Dish Network is the sole cable or satellite operator in the U.S. to start showing Fox’s soccer programs in HD. Negotiations are still ongoing with carriers such as DirecTV, Time Warner Cable and Verizon FioS. The hope is that they will add Fox’s high-def soccer channels to their lineups very soon.

In addition to five-year-old Fox Soccer Channel, the broadcaster has launched a premium channel called Fox Soccer Plus, available in both standard and high definition.

“We’re in discussions with everyone who carries Fox Soccer Channel today,” said David Nathanson, an executive vice president and general manager at the station. “Ultimately we believe distributors and operators will choose to carry [HD] in the near future.”

Although the World Cup will be broadcast by ESPN in June, Fox plans mucho coverage. Exhibitions involving World Cup nations will be shown from time to time and Fox is airing two new shows, Passport to South Africa and Ticket to South Africa.

Passport is a series of nine 30-minute episodes that examines the teams from the 32 countries that qualified for the World Cup.
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