There is little doubt that more and more people are turning to streaming for all their entertainment needs.
This trend can be found all over the world as streaming sites grow in popularity.
One of the most popular categories of streamed content is sports, especially football, or soccer if you’re American.
The popularity of football streaming should come as no surprise since football has long reigned supreme as the world’s most popular sport.
The fact that over 3.57 billion people, nearly half of Earth’s population, watched the World Cup in 2018, serving as evidence for the demand for football streaming services.
If you were unable to find a way to stream the World Cup last year or you need a way to stream football now, you’ve come to the right place.
In this guide, we’ll show you the best sites to use to stream football and how to stream even if the content is blocked in your country. Let’s get started!
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Why You Should Avoid Free Football Streaming Sites
As we mentioned earlier, football is the most popular form of entertainment in the world, especially when it’s time for the World Cup.
This fact shows us that there’s a worldwide desire for the ability to watch world-class football matches and that there’s an ever-growing need for quality football streaming services.
While there are plenty of these services available, as we’ll discuss in a moment, if you choose not to use one of them you’ll likely have a subpar experience.
If you’re dedicated enough, you’ll undoubtedly be able to find sites that offer live football for free.
While it may be tempting to use these sites, we would suggest using one of the paid sites we discuss later in the article.
We make this suggestion for several reasons, the first of which is the legal issues surrounding the offer of free football streaming.
While the discussion of these legal issues is too long for this article, it’s important to note that the stream you’re watching may be cut short at any time due to the broadcasters being shut down, which will undoubtedly ruin your streaming experience.
The reliability of these sites is also a major issue.
It’s often the case that free streaming sites lack the capability to broadcast high-quality, interruption-free content.
While you may be able to watch the match you’re hoping to see, you’ll likely be faced with buffering issues, low image quality or a lost connection to the streaming site.
What football fans really need is a credible and high-quality football streaming service.
Truth be told, there are probably hundreds of streaming sites, which makes it very difficult to find the good ones.
That being said, even the good ones are numerous enough to make it a daunting task for anyone who wants to pick a single streaming service to watch soccer.
After reading our guide, you should be left with a few high-quality streaming sites to choose from or, if you choose not to use one of the ones we discuss below, you’ll at least know how to distinguish a quality streaming site from an unreliable one.
Without further ado, here’s a look at some of the best football streaming services.
beIN Sports
While football may be your favorite sport, chances are that you like watching other sports, too. beIN Sports understands this and gives sports fans the content diversity they desire.
In addition to their football coverage, beIN Sports also offers their users the ability to stream motorsports events and professional wrestling as well as NFL, NBA and MLB games.
beIN Sports is accessible in every Middle Eastern country except for Saudi Arabia.
This nearly-complete coverage of the Middle East sets beIN Sports apart from other sports streaming services.
The service is also available in the U.S., Canada, Australia, France, North Africa and much of Asia.
beIN Sports introduced their online streaming service known as beIN Connect in 2014. Today, its on-demand and live content is available on macOS, PC, iOS, Android, PlayStation and Xbox.
ESPN
ESPN is one of the largest sports channels and streaming services in the world, certainly in the U.S.
This popularity was boosted when they purchased the broadcasting rights for every UFC event, making them the only source to watch the most popular MMA competitions.
Of course, MMA is far from being the only sport that’s broadcast by ESPN.
ESPN is able to call on their experience and infrastructure to offer users a wide variety of international and national sporting events on a single channel.
If you have access to one of most TV service providers anywhere in the U.S., there’s a good chance you already have access to ESPN.
ESPN recently launched a new version of their app, which can be used to watch hundreds of soccer matches as well as other sporting events.
If you’ve already been using ESPN to stream your favorite sports content, note that the latest version of the app will completely replace the WatchESPN app.
Recently, ESPN made an official statement about the launch of their new app.
In the statement, they mentioned how the latest move was in line with the company’s ongoing strategy of creating a one-stop solution for everything ESPN has to offer.
They also mentioned that the new app allows them to maximize their resources to create the best possible streaming experience for their users.
In terms of football content, ESPN provides access to the best of the best. Below is a list of the leagues whose games you can watch with ESPN:
- Premier League
- Champions League
- Europa League
- MLS
- La Liga
- Liga MX
- Serie A
- Bundesliga
Another convenient thing about watching sports coverage via ESPN is that all of it’s in English.
ESPN provides content for their Spanish-speaking viewers with their ESPN Desportes service.
If you don’t have a cable or satellite TV service, you’re still able to access ESPN’s extensive library of on-demand and live content.
Their ESPN+ service, which costs $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year, offers a wide range of high-quality content.
This service, which was launched in 2018, currently has over 21 million subscribers, which provides evidence for the quality of the service.
If you’re a cord cutter, but you still want to stream football and other sports content, you can access ESPN+ on any of the following devices:
- Android
- iPad
- iPhone
- macOS
- PC
- PlayStation
- Xbox One
- Roku
- Chromecast
- Apple TV
- Android TV
- Amazon Fire TV
Fox Sports
If you’re looking for quality over quantity, then Fox Sports is likely your best option.
While there is a considerable amount of diversity in terms of the different sports that can be streamed with Fox Sports, they don’t broadcast every match or game so you may be unable to find the one for which you’re looking.
That being said, the broadcast quality is high enough that you should still consider Fox Sports for your sports streaming needs.
To access Fox Sports’ content you’ll need a current and valid cable or satellite TV service subscription.
This is the only way to stream their content so if you don’t have a TV subscription, here is a list of some of the popular ones that offer Fox Sports as part of their packages:
- Optimum
- Mediacom
- DISH
- DIRECTV
- Cox Communications
- Xfinity
- AT&T U-verse
As you may have heard, Disney recently acquired the entirety of 21st Century Fox, which includes Fox Sports.
This massive acquisition left the media buzzing with questions regarding the future of Fox’s channels and streaming services.
Later it was confirmed that Sinclair would be purchasing Fox’s regional sports networks from Disney for $10.6 billion.
This leaves, Fox’s sports network somewhat spread out, but for now at least Fox Sports is alive and well.
Fox Sports is available to 84.5 million U.S. households.
The reason why so many people want to get their football fix from Fox Sports is because it offers varied soccer content from some of the most popular leagues and tournaments, such as:
- World Cup
- UEFA Champions League
- Asian Champions League
- La Liga
- Bundesliga
- Ligue 1
- Asian Cup
- A-League
- E-League
- W-League
- Serie A
- FFA Cup
Fox Sports is accessible on TV, on the Fox Sports website or on the Fox Sports Go app.
The app makes it easy for users to watch their favorite sports content on the go. This includes much of the content that’s shown on your local Fox Sports channel.
Some content is not available due to licensing issues, but the vast majority of Fox’s sports content can be found on the app.
The app is available on the following devices:
- Amazon TV Boxes
- Amazon Fire Stick
- Roku
- Chromecast
- Apple TV
- Xbox
- PlayStation
- iOS
- Android
- Mac
- PC
Sky
Just like some of the other streaming services that we’ve mentioned here, Sky has been around for more than two decades.
Since it was founded, Sky has grown to be the biggest pay-TV content provider in the U.K. with over 12.5 million subscribers.
In fact, Sky’s streaming service is so popular that it’s responsible for 0.5% of the world’s internet traffic.
Sky offers their subscribers access to their official streaming service Sky Go for no additional charge.
This is one of the easiest ways to keep up with the latest sporting events or watch movies and TV shows from all corners of the globe.
Keep in mind that to use Sky’s services, you’ll need to sign up for at least a one-year subscription.
The prices are fairly reasonable, however, especially if you consider the wide range of content to which you’ll be given access.
Just in terms of football, you’ll be able to watch all of the following leagues:
- MLS
- Carabao Cup
- League Two
- League One
- European U21
- UEFA Nations League
- World Cup
- Euro 2020
- Ligue 1
- Bundesliga
- Serie A
- Eredivisie
- La Liga
- Europa League
- Champions League
Honorable Mentions
If for one reason or another you choose not to use one of the services we’ve discussed above, we’ve chosen some honorable mentions that can give you a quality football streaming experience.
DAZN, Hulu and SlingTV all have football streaming options as well as other content to truly make the purchase price worthwhile.
Give them a try if you weren’t able to find what you were looking for on the other sites we mentioned.
Stream Geo-Restricted Content With a VPN
While most of the services we’ve discussed are available outside the U.S. and the U.K., much of the content on the other services is blocked in other countries.
While this may deter you from using these services, consider using a VPN to help you gain access to their geo-restricted content.
It’s extremely simple and has a wide range of additional benefits that make the relatively low price well worth the money.
First, you’ll need to sign up for a VPN service. We would suggest using either NordVPN or CyberGhost.
Once you’ve created an account, you’ll need to download the VPN app onto your device.
Once it’s downloaded, open the app and log in with your account credentials. You should then see a place to choose a VPN server.
Select a server that’s located in a country where the content you’re trying to access is available. Click Connect and you’ll be able to access the geo-restricted content.
VPNs work by routing your internet connection through a VPN server before connecting you to the internet.
This makes it appear as though you’re located in a different country than the one you’re actually in, which allows you to access content that’s blocked based on location.
While this is an important benefit, it’s not the only upside to using a VPN.VPNs encrypt your internet connection, which means that your internet browsing data will be untraceable by hackers, governments and internet service providers.
You’ll be able to protect yourself and your data all while streaming football that you were previously unable to access.