How to Watch the 2022 World Cup Live From Anywhere
The excitement for the 2022 FIFA World Cup has been bubbling over for some time now. After all, four years is a long time to wait for what could be the world’s most-watched sporting event. We’ve had to wait a few extra months already, as the World Cup is being played in Qatar — the tourney’s first time in an Arab country.
The much-anticipated FIFA World Cup 2022, hosted by Qatar, kicks off on November 20th. Even though 100+ countries have media rights to the football championship, many broadcasters are limited to a few games, while others only offer the highlights and replays. You might miss the live-action if you don’t have access to cable or online services that stream all 64 matches.
With a VPN, you can catch every second of the Qatar World Cup. This app can bypass geo-restrictions, making it seem like you’re in a location with full World Cup streaming rights. You can stream all the football matches live on platforms like fobuTV, beIN Sports, and BBC iPlayer.
My top recommendation is ExpressVPN because its global network of super-fast servers quickly unblocks streaming sites with rights to FIFA. You can even use ExpressVPN to watch the 2022 World Cup risk-free since it’s backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Quick Guide: How to Watch the World Cup 2022 Live in 3 Easy Steps
- Download a VPN. I recommend ExpressVPN to live stream the FIFA World Cup buffer-free wherever you are. Plus, it’s backed by a reliable 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Connect to a server. Pick a country server that will live stream the football championship. For example, choose a UK server for BBC iPlayer.
- Watch every game live. Sign in to your account on beIN Sports or BBC iPlayer and watch all the Word Cup football action live from anywhere.
You’ll now have access to the streams of your choice as if you were in the country of your VPN server. With the VPNs suggested in this article, you shouldn’t run into any problems, as long as you choose the right server location. However, if it doesn’t work, you can always try to connect to a different server on the same location or delete your browser’s cookies before trying again.
Where Can I Watch the 2022 World Cup Online
The World Cup 2022 will be televised globally on various channels like Fox Sport, Telemundo, RDS, CTV, and TSN.
On top of that, FIFA has recently launched its own digital platform (called FIFA+), providing free access to live football matches (including the World Cup). However, it’s currently only available on web and mobile devices.
An online streaming platform is the only way to go if you don’t have cable or want to watch Qatar 2022 live on your smart TV or another device incompatible with FIFA+. That said, some streaming services, like Voot, will only have the highlights and replays and not show live football matches.
How to Watch the FIFA World Cup Online All Over the World
If you’re aching to watch a FIFA World Cup match, but you’re unsure how to go about it, there are three things you can do.
- Use a (local) online stream. Chances are, the country you’re in broadcasts World Cup matches via an online stream. Whether you’re on holiday or at home, you might be able to find a free stream to watch the FIFA match on. Have a look at our list of streams later on in this article to find one that’ll work for you!
- Watch via local television. Aside from online streams, many networks also broadcast FIFA matches on local channels. Some examples are Sky Sport in Germany, BBC and ITV in the UK, and Fox in the US. Chances are, you might be able to see the match live by simply turning on your TV or going to a local pub.
- Use a stream from a different country with a VPN. Sometimes the right FIFA streams aren’t available in your location. This might be the case when you have a running subscription for a service, but are abroad and don’t have access to it. In these situations, a VPN can help you access your usual streams or even free streams in a different country. Using a VPN is easy and probably the most universally useful solution.
When Do You Need a VPN to Watch the World Cup?
Countless networks and online streams all over the world show the FIFA World Cup matches live. However, not everyone has access to all of those options. Due to licensing, each network only holds the right to show matches in specific locations.
This means that your ability to view streams depends on your location. A VPN can help you get around the geographical restrictions that result from this.
There are several situations in which you might need a VPN to watch FIFA World Cup matches. These are the most common ones:
- You’re in a country that doesn’t have the broadcasting rights for the game you want to watch.
- You’re in a place where football streams are blocked entirely.
- You want to watch a match with commentary in a specific language.
Channels and Streams that Broadcast the FIFA World Cup
There are many sports channels all over the world that broadcast the FIFA World Cup for free. Now that you’ve got a VPN, you can access plenty of them. Depending on which language you’d like to watch the match in, there are countless streams that can help you out. Here are a couple of well-known ones, including free options, that might be of use to you.
| COUNTRY | ONLINE BROADCASTER | STREAMS | REQUIREMENTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | RTSH | Live Stream | None |
| Austria | Servus TV | Live Stream | None |
| Australia | SBS.com | Live Stream | Sign-up and registration |
| Italy | Raiplay.it | Live Stream | Sign-up and registration |
| Luxembourg | RTL | Live Stream | None |
| Switzerland (Recommended) | SRF INFO | Live Stream | None |
| United Kingdom (Recommended) | BBC iPlayer ITV.com |
Live Stream | Email, Name, and UK address |
| United States (via FOX Network) | SlingTV FuboTV YouTube TV Hulu + Live TV DirecTV Stream |
Live Streams | Subscription (Some offer free trials) |
Of course, there are many more streams providing either free or paid access to the matches. If you’d like to watch a FIFA game with commentary in a specific language, there are local opportunities that will become available worldwide as long as you use a VPN. Simply find the stream, connect to a VPN server situated in the country where that stream is available, and start streaming.
In our step-by-step plan, we already recommended a great VPN service. Chances are, you’d rather have some options to choose from. There are plenty of good VPN providers around, as long as you know what to look for. For watching FIFA matches, you’ll want a VPN with:
- Servers in the country you want to watch the World Cup from (so UK servers for a stream with BBC commentary).
- A fast and stable connection to make sure that your stream won’t lag or has to buffer.
- A cheap subscription, so it won’t cost you too much. We have a list of some decent free VPN services, but more often than not these won’t work well for streaming.
Based on these factors, we have three suggestions for you. If you ask us, these are the very best VPN providers to use for streaming football and, specifically, the FIFA World Cup.
