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The 2022 FIFA World Cup is in full swing in Qatar, and fans have already borne witness to some upsets — most notably, Saudi Arabia beating Lionel Messi’s Argentina squad in their opening game, as well as Japan’s surprise victory over Germany. More excitement is almost a guarantee at the world’s biggest sports event, but if you’re looking to join in and watch the World Cup from the U.S., you’ll need to dial in your streaming setup.
Below, we’ve outlined the best ways to watch the world cup online in 2022, including how to get a World Cup live stream for free online using a VPN.
How to Watch the World Cup Online Free With a VPN
The best way to watch the World Cup online for free is to access a free live stream in another country with a virtual private network (VPN) like ExpressVPN or NordVPN.
If you’re unfamiliar, VPNs are browser extensions or apps that “trick” your device into thinking it’s in another region, letting you access websites, streaming services, or different versions of U.S. streaming services (like Netflix) only available in other areas. VPNs are safe, reliable, and easy to use, and the best VPNs aren’t expensive.
To live stream the World Cup for free with a VPN, first sign up for ExpressVPN or NordVPN and add it to your web browser. The two VPNs are very similar (both work seamlessly for getting legal free live streams of the World Cup), though ExpressVPN is slightly faster and Nord VPN has more servers (i.e. more locations you can connect to). Read our full comparison of the two top-rated VPNs here.
Once your VPN is installed, set the location to a location in the U.K. and you’ll be able to watch English-language broadcasts of every World Cup game for free on BBC iPlayer or ITV Hub. Alternatively, you can also set your location to somewhere in Australia and watch every game for free on the country’s SBS streaming platform.
ExpressVPN costs $12.95 a month if you pay month-to-month, or $6.67 a month if you pay for a year upfront. With either plan, you also get a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you could watch the whole World Cup and then get your $12.95 back after the event concludes.
Buy ExpressVPN $12.95
NordVPN costs slightly less at $11.99 per month, and it also comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. You can bring that cost all the way down to $2.99 per month if you opt for a 2-year commitment and pay $80.73 upfront.
Buy NordVPN $11.99
How to Watch the World Cup Online: Live Stream Soccer in the U.S.
If you don’t want to go the VPN route, there are still plenty of options to watch the World Cup online in the U.S. Here are three of the best — some of which even get you free World Cup live streams for certain games.
1. Stream the World Cup on Peacock
NBC’s streaming platform, Peacock, will offer live streams of all 64 World Cup matches. The first 12 matches were available to watch with Peacock’s free subscription tier, but the remaining games require a Premium subscription (which only costs $4.99 per month). However, there is a catch with Peacock: their World Cup live streams are simulstreams of Telemundo Deportes, so the commentary is in Spanish.
Buy Free Trial Peacock
2. Stream the World Cup on fuboTV
A great way to watch the World Cup online in the U.S. (with English commentary) is by getting a live TV streaming service like fuboTV. Fox and FS1 — the two channels with English World Cup coverage in the U.S. — are both included in fuboTV’s extensive channel lineup, so you can watch every game live online.
fuboTV costs $69.99 per month, but starts with a seven-day free trial before you pay. Plus, you get 1000 hours of cloud DVR storage, which is very useful for catching the few World Cup games that happen early in the morning, U.S. time.
Buy Free Trial fuboTV
3. Stream the World Cup on Sling
Another great live TV streaming service that will get you World Cup live streams online is Sling. At $40 a month (currently discounted to $20 for your first month), Sling is the cheapest live TV streaming service that still delivers a ton of popular channels. The service’s Blue package boasts 41 channels, including Fox and FS1 to watch the World Cup live online.
Buy Sling Subscription $20
When Is the World Cup? 2022 World Cup Schedule
The FIFA World Cup started on Nov. 20, and culminates in the final on Dec. 18.
Right now we’re in the group stage of the World Cup, which sees all 32 teams divided into groups of four. Each team in those groups plays each other once before the first and second-place teams advance to the round of 16. Here’s the schedule for the group stage (times in ET), which lasts until Friday, Dec. 2:
World Cup Group A Match Schedule
Sun, Nov. 20 — Qatar 0, Ecuador 2
Mon, Nov. 21 — Senegal 0, Netherlands 2
Fri, Nov. 25 — Qatar 1, Senegal 3
Fri, Nov. 25 — Netherlands 1, Ecuador 1
Tues, Nov. 29 — Netherlands vs. Qatar @ 10 a.m.
Tues, Nov. 29 — Ecuador vs. Senegal @ 10 a.m.
World Cup Group B Match Schedule
Mon, Nov. 21 — England 6, Iran 2
Mon, Nov. 21 — USA 1, Wales 1
Fri, Nov. 25 — Wales 0, Iran 2
Fri, Nov. 25 — England 0, USA 0
Tues, Nov. 29 — Wales vs. England @ 2 p.m.
Tues, Nov. 29 — Iran vs. USA @ 2 p.m.
World Cup Group C Match Schedule
Tues, Nov. 22 — Argentina 1, S. Arabia 2
Tues, Nov. 22 — Mexico 0, Poland 0
Sat, Nov. 26 — Poland vs. Saudi Arabia @ 8 a.m.
Sat, Nov. 26 — Argentina vs. Mexico @ 2 p.m.
Wed, Nov. 30 — Poland vs. Argentina @ 2 p.m.
Wed, Nov. 30 — Saudi Arabia vs. Mexico @ 2 p.m.
World Cup Group D Match Schedule
Tue, Nov. 22 — Denmark 0, Tunisia 0
Tue, Nov. 22 — France 4, Australia 1
Sat, Nov. 26 — Tunisia vs. Australia @ 5 a.m.
Sat, Nov. 26 — France vs. Denmark @ 11 a.m.
Wed, Nov. 30 — Tunisia vs. France @ 10 a.m.
Wed, Nov. 30 — Australia vs. Denmark @ 10 a.m.
World Cup Group E Match Schedule
Wed, Nov. 23 — Germany 1, Japan 2
Wed, Nov. 23 — Spain 7, Costa Rica 0
Sun, Nov. 27 — Japan vs. Costa Rica @ 5 a.m.
Sun, Nov. 27 — Spain vs. Germany @ 2 p.m.
Thurs, Dec. 1 — Japan vs. Spain @ 2 p.m.
Thurs, Dec. 1 — Costa Rica vs. Germany @ 2 p.m.
World Cup Group F Match Schedule
Wed, Nov. 23 — Morocco 0, Croatia 0
Wed, Nov. 23 — Belgium 1, Canada 0
Sun, Nov. 27 — Belgium vs. Morocco @ 8 a.m.
Sun, Nov. 27 — Croatia vs. Canada @ 11 a.m.
Thurs, Dec. 1 — Croatia vs. Belgium @ 10 a.m.
Thurs, Dec. 1 — Canada vs. Morocco @ 10 a.m.
World Cup Group G Match Schedule
Thurs, Nov. 24 — Switzerland 1, Cameroon 0
Thurs, Nov. 24 — Brazil 2, Serbia 0
Mon, Nov. 28 — Cameroon vs. Serbia @ 5 a.m.
Mon, Nov. 28 — Brazil vs. Switzerland @ 11 a.m.
Fri, Dec. 2 — Cameroon vs. Brazil @ 2 p.m.
Fri, Dec. 2 — Serbia vs. Switzerland @ 2 p.m.
World Cup Group H Match Schedule
Thurs, Nov. 24 — Uruguay 0, South Korea 0
Thurs, Nov. 24 — Portugal 3, Ghana 2
Mon, Nov. 28 — South Korea vs. Ghana @ 8 a.m.
Mon, Nov. 28 — Portugal vs. Uruguay @ 2 p.m.
Fri, Dec. 2 — South Korea vs. Portugal @ 10 a.m.
Fri, Dec. 2 — Ghana vs. Uruguay @ 10 a.m.