If you want to stream all of the 2018 FIFA World Cup matches online (and why wouldn’t you!?) you can. All you need is the right VPN. Once you have that, you can stream every match on either BBC iPlayer or ITV Hub.
We recommend watching the games via UK streaming sites because they’re the only English-language channels that will show all of the 2018 FIFA World Cup games on free-to-air TV.
If you’re in the US, example, you will need to sign up to FuboTV or Hulu before you can watch the World Cup on the cable TV channel Fox. The same applies to other English-speaking countries. New Zealand’s World Cup rights are held by pay-TV channel, Sky. In Australia, the free-to-air station SBS will show some live games – the rest will be shown on the paid-for channel Opus TV. Visit Wikipedia’s World Cup Broadcasting Rights page to find out more.
British football fans, by contrast, can watch every match of the 2018 World Cup for free. This is because the broadcast rights in the UK are held by two free-to-air channels, BBC and ITV. Both offer live streams on their websites. This article is aimed at helping UK TV license trying to watch the World Cup while overseas.
Note: If you don’t have a VPN you can still watch the Football World Cup. But you will need to sign up to whichever TV channel owns the rights to air the competition in your country (or where you’re on holiday).
How to stream the 2018 FIFA World Cup (with a VPN)?
You can watch EVERY match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. No matter where you are in the world. All you need is the right VPN and you’ll stream every match. In HD. For free!
- Sign up to ExpressVPN (£3.76/month)
- Check the fixtures below
- Go to iPlayer or ITV Hub
- Watch the 2018 FIFA World Cup live
We suggest using ExpressVPN (£3.76/month) because it has the most reliable servers that work with BBC and ITV 100% of the time.
It ranks number one on our Best VPN chart and has the fastest, least-crowded servers. Also, its IPs are not blocked by major streaming services such as BBC iPlayer, ITV and Netflix. Which is key if you want to watch the World Cup Live online this summer (see below for more info).
Which VPNs still work with BBC iPlayer and ITV Hub?
There are three major VPNs that reliably let you watch BBC iPlayer and ITV Hub live. These are ExpressVPN (£3.76/month), NordVPN (£2.32/month) and PureVPN (£3.15/month), of which ExpressVPN is the most reliable.
Until recently, any VPN with a server in the UK was good enough to let you stream content on BBC iPlayer and ITV Hub. However, online streaming servers have now become a lot stricter on which servers and IP addresses can access their content. Resulting in the majority of VPNs having their servers blacklisted.
The only way VPNs can fight back against the blacklisting of its servers is to play a game of Cat and Mouse. When BBC iPlayer and ITV Hub (and Netflix) et al blacklist a VPN server/IP they create and open a new unblocked server.
This is as labour intensive (for VPNs) as it sounds. Only a few VPNs, featured above, are winning the game.
Check out our article Which VPNs still work with BBC iPlayer for a more in-depth explanation.
What’s the best VPN for the 2018 FIFA World Cup?
If you want guaranteed access to BBC iPlayer and ITV hub, we suggest signing up to Express VPN. It’s the VPN I use and I’ve been watching UK-based content for several months now without any issues.
ExpressVPN offers an excellent live chat option too. If, for whatever reason, you have difficulties accessing a streaming service you want just go to the ExpressVPN home page and begin a Live Chat. From here, a support agent will guide you step-by-step through what you need to do to start steaming again.
UK TV Stations: FIFA World Cup Guide
Group stages
(UK local time)
Thursday, June 14
Russia v Saudi Arabia Moscow 4pm ITV
Friday, June 15
Egypt v Uruguay 1pm BBC; Morocco v Iran 4pm ITV; Portugal v Spain 7pm BBC
Saturday, June 16
France v Australia 11am BBC; Argentina v Iceland Moscow 2pm ITV; Denmark v Peru 5pm BBC; Croatia v Nigeria 8pm ITV
Sunday, June 17
Costa Rica v Serbia 1pm ITV; Germany v Mexico Moscow 4pm BBC; Brazil v Switzerland 7pm ITV
Monday, June 18
Sweden v South Korea 1pm ITV; Belgium v Panama 4pm BBC; Tunisia v England 7pm BBC
Tuesday, June 19
Colombia v Japan 1pm BBC; Poland v Senegal 4pm ITV; Russia v Egypt 7pm BBC
Wednesday, June 20
Portugal v Morocco 1pm BBC; Uruguay v Saudi Arabia 4pm BBC; Iran v Spain 7pm ITV
Thursday, June 21
France v Peru 1pm ITV; Denmark v Australia 4pm ITV; Argentina v Croatia 7pm BBC
Friday, June 22
Brazil v Costa Rica 1pm ITV; Nigeria v Iceland 4pm BBC; Serbia v Switzerland 7pm BBC
Saturday, June 23
Belgium v Tunisia 1pm BBC; Germany v Sweden 4pm ITV; South Korea v Mexico 7pm ITV
Sunday, June 24
England v Panama 1pm BBC; Japan v Senegal 4pm BBC; Poland v Colombia 7pm ITV
Monday, June 25
Saudi Arabia v Egypt 3pm ITV; Uruguay v Russia 3pm ITV; Iran v Portugal 7pm BBC; Spain v Morocco 7pm BBC
Tuesday, June 26
Denmark v France 3pm ITV; Australia v Peru 3pm ITV; Nigeria v Argentina 7pm BBC; Croatia v Iceland 7pm BBC
