Watch the FIFA World Cup Online

Click here for quick step-by-step instructions to watch the World Cup

Watch the FIFA World Cup with a VPN: a summary

Do you want to watch a World Cup match? A lot of online FIFA streams aren’t available worldwide. Still, you can get access if you follow these steps:

1. Create a VPN account, for example with NordVPN.
2. Download and install the VPN software on your device.
3. Connect to a server in a country where the stream you wish to watch is available.
4. Go to your stream and enjoy the match!

If you’re looking for a good VPN to try, we recommend NordVPN:

NordVPN

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For more information about VPNs, streams you can use to watch FIFA, and a more detailed step-by-step plan to help you watch the World Cup, you can read our full article below.

Whether you call it football or soccer, this awesome game is without a doubt the most popular sport in the world. Perhaps the most prestigious football event is the FIFA World Cup. Although this is a worldwide event, many people will find themselves unable to watch it, either because no broadcasting network in their country has bought the rights to broadcast the World Cup, or because they don’t have access to their regular streams, for example because they’re on holiday. Luckily, there are some easy solutions to this. The most useful one is a VPN. Below you can read how you can watch the FIFA World Cup wherever you are in the world.

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 at the bottom of 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 rights to show matches on 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 the 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.

How to Watch World Cup Matches Live with a VPN: Step-By-Step Guide

If you’re in one of the aforementioned situations and want to watch FIFA, you’ll have to get a VPN, install the software, and choose the right server location. Complicated? Not at all. Here’s a simple step-by-step guide that’ll take just a couple of minutes.

1. Choose a good VPN provider and create an account on their website. For watching the World Cup live, we recommend NordVPN. This VPN is relatively cheap, great for streaming, and offers a 30-day money-back guarantee that can give you a free month of VPN use.
2. Download your chosen VPN’s software from their website on your computer or smartphone. Would you like to watch on your smart TV or a different device? Check out our setup section for specific instructions per device, or install a VPN on your router to cover all basics.
3. Install the VPN software. Most providers have an installation wizard that will do all the work for you.
4. Open the VPN app and log in with the account you created in step 1.
5. Connect to a VPN server in the country you want to watch the World Cup from. You can usually choose from a list of locations in the software. You’ll want to pick a location from which the FIFA live stream you wish to watch is available. You can find a list of streams near the bottom of this article.
6. Turn on the VPN by clicking “connect”. Some VPNs will automatically connect once you’ve chosen a VPN server. Now, you can simply go to the stream you wish to watch and press play. Enjoy!

You’ll now have access to the stream 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 to delete your browser’s cookies before trying again.

The Best VPN Providers for Football and the World Cup

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.

1. NordVPN: Quick and stable FIFA streaming

NordVPN is one of the most popular VPNs in the world – and for good reason. This VPN combines fast servers, stable connections, and great options for streaming. With a server network that stretches over countless countries worldwide, you’ll always be able to find the right location for almost any FIFA stream. On top of that, NordVPN is very easy to use, so even beginning VPN users will be able to find their way quickly. If you like, you can even use NordVPN on your PlayStation, Xbox One, or Nintendo Switch by installing it on your router, so you can easily watch each World Cup match on those devices.

NordVPN offers great value for the money you spend, which is why we think it’s the best VPN for FIFA. Don’t forget: you can use their 30-day money-back guarantee to test their service before fully committing to a subscription!

NordVPN

Our pick

Our pick

Deal:

Only $3.29 a month for a two-year subscription with a 30-day money-back guarantee!

From

$3.29

9.3

• Excellent protection and a large network of servers
• Nice and pleasing application
• No logs

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2. ExpressVPN: Easily watch football online

When it comes to results, ExpressVPN is our absolute favorite VPN provider. They have servers all over the world, which means you can watch the World Cup from practically any country. All ExpressVPN servers are stable and will reach great connection speeds. Their software is highly intuitive, making it easy to set up, and it works on all popular devices and operating systems. This makes ExpressVPN an ideal VPN provider for watching FIFA World Cup games.

The only reason ExpressVPN isn’t our number 1 VPN for World Cup streaming, is its subscription price. ExpressVPN is a relatively expensive provider while other options, including NordVPN, are quite cheap, especially when you get a long-term subscription. However, you can still try out this excellent provider for a limited time without spending any money. If you’re interested in ExpressVPN, we’d advise you to use their money-back guarantee to essentially get a 30-day free trial.

ExpressVPN

Deal:

Great discount on annual subscription + 30-day money-back guarantee!

From

$6.67

8.9

• Very easy to use VPN
• Perfect for anonymous browsing, downloading, and streaming (i.e. Netflix)
• 3000+ servers in 94 countries

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3. CyberGhost: Cheap access to the World Cup

Just like our numbers one and two, CyberGhost is a great VPN provider that’ll quickly help you stream the World Cup matches. This provider has thousands of servers all over the world and a pretty decent connection speed, although it scores just below NordVPN and ExpressVPN when it comes to long-distance servers. In terms of usability, CyberGhost is a great choice, as its interface is nice to look at and easy to understand. Like NordVPN, it has special options for streaming, which is particularly helpful when trying to watch football.

CyberGhost’s biggest advantage is its low price: it’s the cheapest option in our top three. Although it might not always be as reliable as other premium VPNs, it’s still a fantastic option that’ll help you watch all of your most anticipated matches. CyberGhost, too, offers a money-back guarantee you can use to get a free trial.

CyberGhost

Deal:

Try CyberGhost for $2.15 per month!

From

$2.29

8.8

• Very user-friendly
• High quality for a low price
• Torrents and Netflix possible

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Disclaimer: Always Check the User Agreement

Before turning on your VPN and using it to watch your favorite FIFA stream, you should always check your user agreement. Some online streams mention VPNs in their terms and conditions. They might say their service isn’t allowed to be used in combination with a VPN connection, for example.

Although VPN use as a whole isn’t considered illegal in most parts of the world (in fact, it’s even encouraged in many Western countries), these user agreements might advise you against connecting to a VPN during streaming. If you do use a VPN, you could be denied access. Therefore, it’s always important to check a stream provider’s official policy and act accordingly.

How Do VPNs Work?

A VPN can help you get around geographical restrictions, allowing you to watch FIFA matches anywhere in the world. To understand how this works, we need to go back to the basics. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) provides you with an encrypted connection to the internet. This means it can give you more online freedom, privacy, and safety.

Because all your data is encrypted, third parties won’t be able to trace what you do online. This helps protect you against hackers, governments, and other curious onlookers. Aside from that, a VPN changes your IP address. When you connect to a VPN server, you take on the IP address of that server, meaning it’ll look as if you’re accessing the internet from that server’s location.

This is why watching FIFA matches on foreign streams with a VPN works: the online streaming service will think you’re in a country where their stream is available and grant you access. A VPN doesn’t just work for football matches. In fact, almost all streams can be accessed worldwide with a VPN. This goes for sports, but also shows, movies, and even some games with limited early access. A lot of people use VPNs to watch the American version of Netflix, for example.

If you want to learn more about VPNs and their possibilities, take a look at our “VPN Explained” article.

Channels and Streams that Broadcast the FIFA World Cup

There are many sports channels all over the world that broadcast the FIFA World Cup. 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.

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.

World Cup Calendar

The official FIFA World Cup competition won’t start until late 2022. The tournament will take place from 21 November until 18 December of that year. That’s when the best teams will meet in Qatar to compete. You can find the full schedule down below:

This doesn’t mean you’ll have to wait until then to get your fill of FIFA football, however. Qualifications are already in full swing. It should be noted that some of these matches and rounds of qualifications have been postponed multiple times due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Hence, dates might still be subject to change. Currently, the plans for the qualifications in different regions are as follows:

• Europe: March until November 2021
• South America: unknown (postponed due to the global pandemic)
• North America, Central America, Caribbean: September 2021 until March 2022
• Africa: May until November 2021
• Asia: June 2019 until June 2022
• Oceania: January 2022 until June 2022
• Intercontinental playoffs: June 2022

If you’re looking to fill the gaps in your watching schedule, you can always tune in for some other extraordinary football events. You might want to check out the Champions League or the UEFA European Championships, for example. Would you rather watch a different sport? A VPN can also help you watch worldwide events like the Tour de France, Wimbledon, and even the Olympics.