.jpg?auto=webp&format=pjpg&width=3840&quality=60)
The BBC and ITV have shared the United Kingdom's TV broadcasting rights to every FIFA World Cup since 1966, and every four years, the two networks go head-to-head in their attempts to outperform the other in the battle for critical and ratings supremacy.
While football fans across Great Britain and Northern Ireland will be reassured to know that every match from the quadrennial international football spectacular will be available on free-to-air television in the UK, it's often difficult to keep track of which channel and streaming service will be broadcasting individual games over the 39-day tournament.
This is as much the case as ever before, what with the 2026 edition of the World Cup finals expanding to a 48-team tournament, up from the 32 nations that competed at Qatar 2022. This means there'll be 104 matches played in North America, a major increase on the 64 games that have been staged during each edition of the tournament since France 98.
Here at GOAL, we give you a full breakdown of where to watch each and every game from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, including a regularly-updated table of which network is broadcasting each individual fixture, where you'll find the opening game, opening ceremonies, England and Scotland's matches plus the FIFA World Cup final.
Is the opening game on ITV or the BBC?
ITV1 will broadcast the first match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, co-hosts Mexico vs South Africa from Group A, on Thursday 11th June.
Kick-off at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City is 8pm BST, although the match will be preceded by the first of three opening ceremonies - one at each of the first games staged in all three host nations, each of which involve that country's team.
Colombian reggaeton artist J Balvin and South African singer-songwriter Tyla will perform at the Azteca ahead of El Tri's clash with Bafana Bafana.
On Friday 12th June, Canada's Group B opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina at BMO Field in Toronto, Ontario, an 8pm BST kick-off, will be preceded by performances by Canadian singer-songwriters Michael Buble and Alanis Morissette.
Then in the early hours of Saturday 13th June, US pop star Katy Perry and rapper Future will perform before the United States play Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California to begin Group D, a game that kicks off at 2am BST.
Both Canada vs Bosnia and Herzegovina and the United States vs Paraguay will be televised by BBC One.
Will UK viewers be able to watch the opening ceremonies?
It is unclear whether the BBC or ITV will broadcast the three opening ceremonies ahead of these matches. In 2022, the BBC decided not to televise the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar as part of the BBC One coverage of the hosts' opening game against Ecuador, although the full ceremony was broadcast live on its BBC Red Button channel and the BBC iPlayer.
It is expected that the ceremonies will be made available to watch through online and digital platforms if they are not on the networks' linear TV channels.
Which channels are the England games on?
ITV1 will televise England's first and last matches from Group L, the fixtures against Croatia on Wednesday 17th June and against Panama on Saturday 27th June, while BBC One will broadcast England vs Ghana on Tuesday 23rd June.
Should the Three Lions progress through the knockout stage, BBC One will screen England's games in the round of 32, round of 16 and semi-finals, while ITV1 will show the quarter-final featuring Thomas Tuchel's team. As is tradition, the final will be televised by both BBC One and ITV1.
Here is a full breakdown of the UK TV coverage of England's Group L matches:
Date | Game | Kick-off time (BST) | Channel |
|---|---|---|---|
17 June | England vs Croatia | 9pm | ITV1 / ITVX |
23 June | England vs Ghana | 9pm | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
27 June | Panama vs England | 10pm | ITV1 / ITVX |
Which channels are Scotland's matches on?
BBC One will broadcast Scotland's first and final Group C games, with Steve Clarke's side set to face Haiti in the early hours of Sunday 14th June and Brazil on Wednesday 24th June. ITV1 and its Scottish equivalent STV will televise Scotland vs Morocco on Friday 19th June.
Here is a rundown of the UK TV coverage of Scotland's fixtures from Group C:
Date | Game | Kick-off time (BST) | Channel |
|---|---|---|---|
14 June | Haiti vs Scotland | 2am | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
19 June | Scotland vs Morocco | 11pm | ITV1 / STV / ITVX / STV Player |
24 June | Scotland vs Brazil | 11pm | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
Where can I watch the final?
As is tradition, both BBC One and ITV1 will screen the final live, as has been the case for every FIFA World Cup final since 1966.
The World Cup final will take place at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Sunday 19th July, and will kick off at 8pm BST.
While there will not be a pre-match closing ceremony, as there has traditionally been ahead of previous World Cup finals, there will instead be a spectacular half-time show, in the vein of the half-time performances at the NFL's Super Bowl.
The half-time show will be co-headlined by Colombian pop star Shakira, who will perform the official World Cup song Dai Dai, veteran US singer Madonna, plus K-pop band BTS, South Korea's all-time best-selling musical act.
While the duration of the show has not been confirmed, it is expected that it will be longer than the standard 15-minute length of the half-time interval within a football game. Last year's FIFA Club World Cup final featured a 24-minute half-time performance.
However, both the BBC and ITV are reportedly not planning to show the half-time show as part of their linear TV coverage of the World Cup final on BBC One and ITV1 respectively.
It is likely that the networks will broadcast a separate feed of the half-time show through their online and digital platforms.
Full World Cup 2026 UK TV schedule
This will be the biggest ever edition of the World Cup, with the tournament expanding from 32 to 48 teams. This means there'll be 104 matches, up from the 64 games that have been staged during each edition of the tournament since France 98.
In total, the BBC channels will broadcast 54 live games, while the ITV network will televise 51 live matches. As is tradition, both BBC One and ITV1 will screen the FIFA World Cup final, which takes place on Sunday 19th July.
You can see the full breakdown of the UK TV coverage of the 2026 World Cup below, including the games, dates and times.
Date | Game | Kick-off time (BST) | Channel |
|---|---|---|---|
11 June | Mexico vs South Africa | 8pm | ITV1 / ITVX |
12 June | South Korea vs Czech Republic | 3am | ITV1 / ITVX |
12 June | Canada vs Bosnia and Herzegovina | 8pm | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
13 June | United States vs Paraguay | 2am | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
13 June | Qatar vs Switzerland | 8pm | ITV1 / ITVX |
13 June | Brazil vs Morocco | 11pm | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
14 June | Haiti vs Scotland | 2am | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
14 June | Australia vs Turkey | 5am | ITV1 / ITVX |
14 June | Germany vs Curacao | 6pm | ITV1 / ITVX |
14 June | Netherlands vs Japan | 9pm | ITV1 / ITVX |
15 June | Ivory Coast vs Ecuador | 12am | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
15 June | Sweden vs Tunisia | 3am | ITV1 / ITVX |
15 June | Spain vs Cape Verde | 5pm | ITV1 / ITVX |
15 June | Belgium vs Egypt | 8pm | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
15 June | Saudi Arabia vs Uruguay | 11pm | ITV1 / ITVX |
16 June | Iran vs New Zealand | 2am | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
16 June | France vs Senegal | 8pm | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
16 June | Iraq vs Norway | 11pm | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
17 June | Argentina vs Algeria | 2am | ITV1 / ITVX |
17 June | Austria vs Jordan | 5am | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
17 June | Portugal vs DR Congo | 6pm | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
17 June | England vs Croatia | 9pm | ITV1 / ITVX |
18 June | Ghana vs Panama | 12am | ITV1 / ITVX |
18 June | Uzbekistan vs Colombia | 3am | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
18 June | Czech Republic vs South Africa | 5pm | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
18 June | Switzerland vs Bosnia and Herzegovina | 8pm | ITV1 / ITVX |
18 June | Canada vs Qatar | 11pm | ITV1 / ITVX |
19 June | Mexico vs South Korea | 2am | BBC Two / BBC iPlayer |
19 June | United States vs Australia | 8pm | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
19 June | Scotland vs Morocco | 11pm | ITV1 / STV / ITVX / STV Player |
20 June | Brazil vs Haiti | 1.30am | ITV1 / ITVX |
20 June | Turkey vs Paraguay | 4am | ITV1 / ITVX |
20 June | Netherlands vs Sweden | 6pm | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
20 June | Germany vs Ivory Coast | 9pm | ITV1 / ITVX |
21 June | Ecuador vs Curacao | 1am | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
21 June | Tunisia vs Japan | 5am | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
21 June | Spain vs Saudi Arabia | 5pm | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
21 June | Belgium vs Iran | 8pm | ITV1 / ITVX |
21 June | Uruguay vs Cape Verde | 11pm | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
22 June | New Zealand vs Egypt | 2am | ITV1 / ITVX |
22 June | Argentina vs Austria | 6pm | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
22 June | France vs Iraq | 10pm | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
23 June | Norway vs Senegal | 1am | ITV1 / ITVX |
23 June | Jordan vs Algeria | 4am | ITV1 / ITVX |
23 June | Portugal vs Uzbekistan | 6pm | ITV1 / ITVX |
23 June | England vs Ghana | 9pm | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
24 June | Panama vs Croatia | 12am | BBC One / BBC iPlayer |
24 June | Colombia vs DR Congo | 3am | ITV1 / ITVX |
How to watch the UK TV coverage with a VPN
If you are travelling abroad or just want to access your usual streaming services from a different part of the world, you may run into geo-restrictions. This is where a Virtual Private Network (VPN) comes in handy.
A VPN, such as ExpressVPN, allows you to establish a secure, encrypted connection online. By virtually changing your location to a country where the game is being broadcast, you can bypass blackout restrictions and watch your favourite team live. A step-by-step guide is described later in this article, or you can also check out our guide to the best VPNs for streaming sports.
