No offense, Olympics, but the world’s most popular sporting event is getting ready to kick off as the 2022 World Cup will begin on Sunday, Nov. 20 as host nation Qatar will take on Ecuador. The matches will then begin in earnest on Monday, Nov. 21 including with the United States opening up the Group Stage against Wales.
FOX has the U.S. rights for the tournament and will air games on FOX and cable sports channel FS1. Even if you don’t have cable, there are options for cord-cutters to watch all of the matches both live and on demand.
1. How to Stream World Cup Matches Live in English
Both FOX and FS1 are available on most live TV streaming services, so you will have options when it comes to which one to pick. Of the six major live streamers, the two channels carrying World Cup games are available on five, only Philo doesn’t carry the FOX networks.
| DTV STREAM | Fubo | Hulu | Philo | Sling TV | YouTube | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Trial | Free Trial | Free 3-Day Trial | Free Trial | Get 50% OFF | Sign Up | |||
| $86.99 | $94.99 | $82.99 | $28 | $40 | $40 | $72.99 | ||
| Fox | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| FS1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
While DIRECTV STREAM, fuboTV, and YouTube TV offer free trials, they all are $65+ per month, so your least expensive way to watch the entirety of the World Cup is with Sling TV.
Sling TV carries FOX (in select markets) and FS1 are available on the Blue plan, and Sling is currently offering a 50% discount on your first month of service. So, if you sign up for the Blue option, you can stream the entire World Cup for just $20.
If Sling doesn’t carry FOX in your local market, you could hook up an antenna to watch those games on your TV for free.
Can You Stream the World Cup in 4K?
If you are looking forward to watching the World Cup in 4K, you’re in luck. The 2022 World Cup will be broadcast in 4K HDR in the Fox Sports and Fox Now apps.
That means that if you are a subscriber of Sling TV, Hulu Live TV, fuboTV, DIRECTV STREAM, and YouTube TV — you can watch the games live in 4K using your TV Everywhere credentials.
2. How to Stream World Cup Matches Live in Spanish
While FOX won’t be streaming matches live through their own subscription service, NBC’s Peacock will, but in Spanish.
Because the company’s Telemundo has the World Cup's U.S. Spanish-language broadcast rights, all 64 tournament games will be available to stream on Peacock.
The streamer will make the first four days of matches — including the USMNT game against Wales on Monday, Nov. 21 — available on its free tier, but beginning on Thursday, Nov. 24, viewers will need to be signed up for Peacock’s Premium or Premium Plus options to stream the action. Keep in mind that all games on Peacock will be in Spanish.
Peacock will also air hour-long pre and post-match coverage live from Qatar.
3. How to Stream World Cup Matches On-Demand
There is one more option worth considering, especially if watching games live isn’t important to you, or if you want to watch without having to spend any additional money. While FOX does not have an SVOD streaming service, it does have an ad-supported video-on-demand service called Tubi.
The streamer will have multiple ways for fans to watch games throughout the tournament. Tubi will have a linear World Cup channel that fans can tune into in order to watch back-to-back games 24 hours a day. The service will also have matches on demand 30 minutes after they finish airing on FOX and FS1. Tubi’s broadcast of the matches will also take advantage of FOX's 4K technology, so fans will be able to watch the games on demand in the highest quality video possible.
Tubi
Tubi is a free video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 200,000+ movies and TV episodes - more than any other streaming service. Its ad breaks are shorter and less frequent than most free services. Fox executives have called their service “TV on steroids.”
World Cup Match Schedule
Thirty-two nations from around the globe qualified for the 2022 World Cup and all have designs on being the team raising the trophy one month from now. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Brazil is the betting favorite heading into the World Cup followed by fellow traditional powers Argentina, France, England, Spain, and Germany.
The United States is in the middle of the pack but is favored to advance out of their group. To start the tournament, the 32 qualified teams have been broken down into eight groups. The four teams in each group will play matches against the other three teams and the top two squads in each group will advance to the Round of 16.
From there, it is a 16-team, single-elimination tournament to the title. The one exception comes after the semifinals; while the winning sides will advance to the title match, the semifinal losing teams will meet up to play for third place.
Group A Schedule
| Date | Match | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|
| Sun, Nov. 20 | Qatar vs. Ecuador | 11 a.m. |
| Mon, Nov. 21 | Senegal vs. Netherlands | 11 a.m. |
| Fri, Nov. 25 | Qatar vs. Senegal | 8 a.m. |
| Fri, Nov. 25 | Netherlands vs. Ecuador | 11 a.m. |
| Tues, Nov. 29 | Netherlands vs. Qatar | 10 a.m. |
| Tues, Nov. 29 | Ecuador vs. Senegal | 10 a.m. |
Group B Schedule
| Date | Match | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|
| Mon, Nov. 21 | England vs. Iran | 8 a.m. |
| Mon, Nov. 21 | USA vs. Wales | 2 p.m. |
| Fri, Nov. 25 | Wales vs. Iran | 5 a.m. |
| Fri, Nov. 25 | England vs. USA | 2 p.m. |
| Tues, Nov. 29 | Wales vs. England | 2 p.m. |
| Tues, Nov. 29 | Iran vs. USA | 2 p.m. |
Group C Schedule
| Date | Match | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|
| Tues, Nov. 22 | Argentina vs. S. Arabia | 5 a.m. |
| Tues, Nov. 22 | Mexico vs. Poland | 11 a.m. |
| Sat, Nov. 26 | Poland vs. S. 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 | S. Arabia vs. Mexico | 2 p.m. |
Group D Schedule
| Date | Match | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|
| Tue, Nov. 22 | Denmark vs. Tunisia | 8 a.m. |
| Tue, Nov. 22 | France vs. Australia | 2 p.m. |
| 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. |
Group E Schedule
| Date | Match | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|
| Wed, Nov. 23 | Germany vs. Japan | 8 a.m. |
| Wed, Nov. 23 | Spain vs. Costa Rica | 11 a.m. |
| 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. |
Group F Schedule
| Date | Match | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|
| Wed, Nov. 23 | Morocco vs. Croatia | 5 a.m. |
| Wed, Nov. 23 | Belgium vs. Canada | 2 p.m. |
| 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. |
Group G Schedule
| Date | Match | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|
| Thurs, Nov. 24 | Switzerland vs. Cameroon | 5 a.m. |
| Thurs, Nov. 24 | Brazil vs. Serbia | 2 p.m. |
| 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. |
Group H Schedule
| Date | Match | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|
| Thurs, Nov. 24 | Uruguay vs. South Korea | 8 a.m. |
| Thurs, Nov. 24 | Portugal vs. Ghana | 11 a.m. |
| 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. |
Once the group stage is complete, the top two teams from each group will advance to the Round of 16.
Round of 16 Schedule
| Date | Match | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|
| Sat, Dec. 3 | 1A vs. 2B | 10 a.m. |
| Sat, Dec. 3 | 1C vs. 2D | 2 p.m. |
| Sun, Dec. 4 | 1D vs. 2C | 10 a.m. |
| Sun, Dec. 4 | 1B vs. 2A | 2 p.m. |
| Mon, Dec. 5 | 1E vs. 2F | 10 a.m. |
| Mon, Dec. 5 | 1G vs. 2H | 2 p.m. |
| Tues, Dec. 6 | 1F vs. 2E | 10 a.m. |
| Tues, Dec. 6 | 1H vs. 2G | 2 p.m. |
From there, the eight winners will move on to the World Cup quarterfinals.
Quarterfinal Round Schedule
| Date | Match | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|
| Fri, Dec. 9 | QF1: 1E/2F vs. 1G/2H | 10 a.m. |
| Fri, Dec. 9 | QF2: 1A/2B vs. 1C/2D | 2 p.m. |
| Sat, Dec. 10 | QF3: 1F/2E vs. 1H/2G | 10 a.m. |
| Sat, Dec. 10 | QF4: 1B/2A vs. 1D/2C | 2 p.m. |
The quarterfinal winners will then face off in the semis with those winners advancing to the World Cup Championship Match, with the losers battling it out for third place.
Semifinal and Championship Rounds Schedule
| Date | Match | Time (ET) | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tues, Dec. 13 | QF2 vs. QF1 | 2 p.m. | Semifinal |
| Wed, Dec. 14 | QF4 vs. QF3 | 2 p.m. | Semifinal |
| Sat, Dec. 17 | Semifinal losers | 10 a.m. | Third Place Match |
| Sun, Dec. 18 | Semifinal winners | 10 a.m. | Championship Match |