If you’re trying to catch up on the latest Euro 2020 highlights, it can be hard to find an official recap of the latest games.
Unfortunately, there isn’t an official Euro 2020 YouTube channel to watch the highlights. But don’t panic. There’s a very easy way to stream official, high-quality highlights from anywhere in the world.
All you need is a VPN. This will give you access to BBC iPlayer, and you can stream the BBC’s official Euro 2020 highlights whenever you want, wherever you want.
In this article, I’ll show you how to get a reliable VPN that will work with BBC iPlayer so you can watch the Euro 2020 highlights anywhere in the world.
See also:
- BBC iPlayer not working with VPN? Here’s how I FIXED that!
- How to watch BBC iPlayer abroad: The EASY 2-minute method!
- How to get BBC iPlayer on the US App Store: The SIMPLE method!
How to watch Euro 2020 highlights anywhere in the world: Quick Guide
To watch the official BBC highlights packages, you need to gain access to BBC iPlayer.
If you’re outside of the UK, BBC iPlayer won’t work. You’ll run into an error saying, “BBC iPlayer only works in the UK. Sorry, it’s due to rights issues.”
Fortunately, there’s a simple way to get around this error. All you need is a reliable VPN.
Follow these steps so you can watch the official BBC Euro 2020 highlights anywhere in the world:
Total Time: 2 minutes
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Create a new account with ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month).
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Download and install the new VPN app
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Open your new app and connect to a server in the UK
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Watch Euro 2020 highlights anywhere in the world
Why can’t I use BBC iPlayer abroad?
The reason you’re running into errors when trying to watch BBC iPlayer outside of the UK is because the streaming service is blocking your connection.
It’s doing this because of the BBC’s content and licensing agreements.
The BBC only has the rights to broadcast its content in the UK. It does not have the rights to broadcast its content internationally.
To protect itself from potential content and licensing issues, the BBC blocks anyone outside its broadcast zone, the UK, from accessing its content.
How does the BBC block my connection?
The BBC uses your IP address to determine your location, and if it finds you’re outside of the UK, it blocks you from accessing its content.
Every time you go online, you’re given a unique IP address. This IP contains information disclosing your location.
When you connect to BBC iPlayer, the service scans your IP address to figure out if you’re located in the UK or not.
If your IP address shows you aren’t, you’ll run into the “BBC iPlayer only works in the UK. Sorry, it’s due to rights issues” error.
How can I get around the BBC’s geo-blocks?
The way to get around these blocks is to make the BBC think you’re accessing its service from within the UK.
To do that, you need a UK IP address. The best and easiest way to get one is using ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month).
These VPNs will give you a spoof UK IP address, so when BBC iPlayer scans your IP, it thinks you’re in the UK and it unblocks its content.
How do VPNs work?
VPNs can give you an anonymous internet connection that hides your location. They can also give you an IP address in a country of your choosing.
They do this by encrypting all of your online data and rerouting it through one of their servers. This gives you an anonymous internet connection.
Once your data reaches the server, it’s decrypted and sent to a local internet service provider in the country where the server is based. This gives you an IP address from that country.
To watch BBC iPlayer outside of the UK, all you need to do is download ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month), connect to a UK server, and you’ll be given a UK IP address.
Now when you go on BBC iPlayer, it will think you’re inside its broadcast zone, and you’ll be able to access the Euro 2020 highlights.
Will any VPN work?
VPNs are popular, and there are both good and bad VPNs out there.
Because VPNs are a common way to watch BBC iPlayer outside the UK, the BBC tries to prevent VPNs from accessing its service.
It does this by monitoring for an abnormal amount of connections coming from the same IP address. When more than an average household worth of connections comes from the same IP address, the BBC iPlayer knows that a VPN has provided this IP address and blocks it.
For lesser VPNs, this can be an issue. Lesser VPNs have more customers than IP addresses, and this results in customers sharing IPs. When BBC iPlayer sees hundreds of connections coming from the same IP it blocks it and the VPN will no longer work with BBC iPlayer.
The VPNs that work with BBC iPlayer are the ones that have measures in place to get around these blocks and that have a lot of IP addresses. Both ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month) have many IPs, so you have less chance of sharing a spoof IP address with another customer, and they also have measures in place to stay ahead of BBC iPlayer if their IP addresses get blocked.
When the BBC identifies an IP provided by ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month), these VPNs will close that IP and open a new one. This cat and mouse game allows you to stay one step ahead of the BBC’s blocks, and it allows you to watch the Euro 2020 highlights reliably anywhere in the world.
The best VPNs to watch the Euro 2020 highlights
1. ExpressVPN 🥇
Why You Should Use ExpressVPN? It’s the fastest and MOST reliable VPN of 2023
Pros
- ✅ Fast servers
- ✅ Thousands of IP addresses
- ✅ 10-simultaneous connections
- ✅ 24/7 Live Chat
- ✅ Easy-to-use app
- ✅ 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- ❌ Expensive
Special Offer for you!
Get 3 extra months free when you sign up for a 12-month ExpressVPN plan. That’s 15 months in total for the price of 12.
Number of servers: 3,000+ | Speed: >80% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 160 in 94 countries | Devices supported: 5 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $6.66/month for 15 months
- $9.99/month for 6 months
- $12.95/month for 1 month
ExpressVPN ($6.66/month) is still the best VPN. And importantly, it ALWAYS has servers that are open with major streaming sites such as Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Paramount+, Amazon Prime Video, etc.
ExpressVPN is usually very good at playing Cat and Mouse with online streaming sites. Meaning, whenever one of its servers is blacklisted it creates a new one – giving its users a constant stream of servers that aren’t blocked. Needless to say, this is a valuable attribute if you’re looking for a VPN to unblock streaming sites.
Its app is easy-to-use and free to download on pretty much any device you can think of. Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, FireStick, Android TV, Roku, PS4, Xbox, Linux, even Apple TV (with a workaround). It’s got it all covered.
The app is another main reason this VPN is so good at unblocking TV streaming sites (that claim they block VPNs) is that its software takes a pragmatic approach to user management. While other VPNs tempt customers by promising them access to hundreds/thousands of servers in multiple countries, ExpressVPN does things differently.
With ExpressVPN you only have a handful of server locations to choose from. Once you select your location the app takes care of the rest. Assigning you to the fastest available server that’s not oversubscribed. This simple technique is so important, as it keeps ExpressVPN’s servers operating at lightning-fast speeds and prevents its IPs from getting blacklisted for “abnormal” usage in the first place.
Check out our full ExpressVPN review.
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(30-day money-back guarantee)
2. Private Internet Access 🥈
The BEST low-cost VPN for streaming!
Pros
- ✅ Fast and reliable servers
- ✅ Thousands of IP addresses
- ✅ 10-simultaneous connections
- ✅ 24/7 Live Chat
- ✅ 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- ❌ Only 48 server locations
Special Offer for you!
Sign up for a 3-year plan with Private Internet Access and save 83% + 3 months free. That works out at $2.03/month.
Number of servers: 25,000+ | Speed: >75% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 70 in 74 countries | Devices supported: 10 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $2.03/month for 3 years
- $7.50/month for 6 months
- $11.99/month for 1 month
Private Internet Access is one of the leading no-log VPN services with over 1-million paying customers.
This VPN is one of the best in the industry at beating streaming sites’ VPN bans. It provides reliable connections with US Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney+ Amazon Prime Video, etc. It also allows 10 simultaneous devices to be connected to its servers at the same time, so you can share the account with your close friends.
If – for whatever reason – you’re not happy with Private Internet Access, there’s a 24/7 live chat support available to assist you with your problem. PIA also offers the industry-standard 30-day money-back guarantee.
From my tests (from New Zealand) I was able to get download speeds of 70 Mbps while connected to a UK server using the Private Internet Access VPN (my non-VPN speed is 100 Mbps).
Special Offer – Save 83%
(30-day money-back guarantee)
3. NordVPN 🥉
A very quick and trustworthy VPN
Pros
- ✅ Fast servers
- ✅ No logs
- ✅ Thousands of IP addresses
- ✅ 6-simultaneous connections
- ✅ 30-day money-back guarantee
- ✅ Easy-to-use app
Cons
- ❌ No refunds for purchases from iTunes/App store
Special Offer for you!
Sign up for a 3-year plan with Private Internet Access and save 83% + 3 months free. That works out at $2.03/month.
Number of servers: 5,000+ | Speeds: >80% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 62 countries | Devices supported: 6 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $3.49/month for 2 years
- $6.99/month for 1 year
- $11.95/month for 1 month
NordVPN is the most widely-used VPN in the world. And it’s easy to see why. It’s a polished app that delivers fast connections (more on this later) to a massive network of VPN servers.
It’s the most reliable at unblocking popular streaming services too – US Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, etc. This is because NordVPN hired a full-time technical team (that’s responsible for monitoring its servers’ connections with popular TV streaming services) and has been aggressively investing in its network of IP addresses in key locations.
Another interesting thing to note is that NordVPN is an industry leader in its development of Nordlynx technology. Nordlynx is built using the WireGuard, a new VPN tunneling protocol designed to outperform current standards (OpenVPN and IPSec). The benefits, according to NordVPN, are dramatically faster transfer speeds while connected to a VPN. My tests – New Zealand to London – confirm that Nordlynx is currently the fastest VPN on the market. However, the difference isn’t dramatic, a few Mbps is all.
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4. Ivacy
A very quick and trustworthy VPN
Pros
- ✅ Fast servers
- ✅ Thousands of IP addresses
- ✅ Dedicated streaming servers
- ✅ 5-simultaneous connections
- ✅ 30-day money-back guarantee
- ✅ 24/7 Live Chat
Cons
- ❌ Only 5 devices
- ❌ Sometimes runs slow
- ❌ Occasionally block by streaming sites for several days
Special Offer for you!
Sign up for Ivacy and enjoy a 7-day trial with no strings attached
Number of servers: 1,000+ | Speed: >65% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 275 in 100 countries | Devices supported: 5 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $1.16/month for 5 years
- $3.50/month for 1 year
- $9.99/month for 1 month
If you’re looking for an excellent VPN, with an even better price tag, Ivacy ($1.16/month) is a great option.
This VPN has all the features you need to stream BBC iPlayer, in HD, from any country in the world. I’ve been testing the app recently on Mac, PC, Android, iOS and FireStick and the results have been impressive – unlocking BBC iPlayer, US Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, etc. with ease.
The Ivacy app is a little different in regards to its UX (user experience). Instead of just selecting a UK server, you need to select the specific BBC iPlayer server. Don’t worry, this isn’t a bad thing – by connecting to a dedicated BBC iPlayer server, it simply means that you’re connecting to an IP address that Ivacy knows works with BBC iPlayer.
For an extra $1.99/month (£1.74) you can add-on a dedicated IP. This will buy you sole access to an IP address in a country of your choice, meaning you won’t have to share your IP (and speeds) with any other use. I don’t recommend this though, using the regular Ivacy servers is enough 95 per cent of the time.
Special Offer – 7-day FREE trial!
(30-day money-back guarantee)
5. CyberGhost
A very quick and trustworthy VPN
Pros
- ✅ 1-day free trial
- ✅ Reliable servers
- ✅ Thousands of IP addresses
- ✅ 7-simultaneous connections
- ✅ 30-day money-back guarantee
- ✅ Easy-to-use app
Cons
- ❌ Expensive
- ❌ Average speed scores
SPECIAL OFFER – 1-DAY FREE TRIAL
Take advantage of CyberGhost’s 1-day FREE TRIAL!
Number of servers: 1,000+ | Speed: >65% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 275 in 100 countries | Devices supported: 5 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $2.75/month for 3 years
- $3.69/month for 2 years
- $5.99/month for 1 year
- $12.99/month for 1 month
CyberGhost is one of the more established VPNs on the market. It has a well-established, and well-tested global network of servers that perform well.
From my tests over the past several months, CyberGhost has no trouble at unblocking major streaming services – US Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max etc. This VPN performed well at maintaining download speeds, well above 65 per cent of my regular (non VPN) ISP speed.
That said, there’s nothing really unique about the service. Which forces you to look at its price-point. And there’s nothing special here. Its short-term $12.99/month price tag puts is well above the industry average of $10.10/month. Similarly, its long-term $2.75/month for 3 years deal isn’t much of a “deal” either.
Oddly, CyberGhost’s most unique feature is its a 1-day, no obligations, free trial. This is an appealing offer to customers who are new to VPNs. However, it’s important to remember that most reputable VPNs will offer customers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so try not to be too seduced by the offer.
SPECIAL OFFER – 1-DAY FREE TRIAL
(30-day money-back guarantee)
