How to watch the World Cup 2022 online: catch up on highlights and coverage

How to watch World Cup 2022 — the famous World Cup trophy they'll playing for.
How to watch World Cup 2022 — the famous World Cup trophy they'll playing for. (Image credit: Getty)

After a nail-biting final between France and Argentina, with the latter getting the victory only in penalties, the World Cup 2022 is now officially over.

Over the course of nearly a month, we've seen plenty of football matches, with loads of upsets and amazing underdog stories. So even though there are no more live matches to watch, you may still want to catch up on highlights or analytical extras.

This guide will help you watch the World Cup 2022 games, with general advice about where they'll be streaming and how to tune in, to make sure you don't miss a match. There's also information on fixtures and groupings below too.

If you're away from home a VPN is always an option to watch the World Cup. We recommend ExpressVPN.

Beyond that here's everything you need to know about the 2022 World Cup, including who's playing who and how you can watch the matches.

How to watch World Cup 2022 online in the US

US fans can watch the World Cup 2022 through Fox. This includes the Fox Sports App, FOX and FOX Sports 1 cable channels, Tubi (though not for live games) and FuboTV, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV or YouTube TV if you have packages that include Fox's sporting channels. Some, like Fubo, have confirmed that they'll be streaming the games in 4K UHD resolution.

Sling TV is the most affordable option of the above, as its Blue package includes all the channels you need and costs $40 per month (and your first month is 50% off too).

Another option is streaming service Peacock, which is putting the first 12 games of the tournament on its free tier and the rest on Peacock Premium. These will be Spanish-language streams, but it's a more affordable option for watching the game than Fox's options.

With the tournament taking place in the Middle East for the first time, matches kick off quite early in the morning for most Americans, with 5 am ET matches (2 am PT) for the first week of the competition. 

Fortunately, all of the US's group stage fixtures will start at 2 pm ET/11 am PT.

How to watch the World Cup 2022 online in the UK

Every World Cup match will be available to watch on terrestrial TV in the UK, thanks to regulations protected by Ofcom that ensure they must be available on free-to-air television in the UK.

All the fixtures are either on ITV 1 or BBC One, as well as ITVX or iPlayer depending on the channel it airs on. The BBC has kicked off an extra channel called World Cup Extra for pre- and post-match analysis for some of the games. Welsh channel S4C will be airing the games too, so if you live in the UK, you can watch them with the channel's Welsh-language coverage.

The kick-off times should be very convenient for UK-based fans with games at 10 am, 1 pm, 4 pm and 7 pm during the first eight days of the tournament. Hopefully, your boss won't mind you tuning in during that morning Zoom call.

Portugal's Christiano Ronaldo dribbling the ball.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

How to watch the World Cup 2022 online everywhere else

Wherever you live, there's a good possibility that a national broadcaster is streaming the World Cup 2022 games, particularly if your country has a team playing in the tournament.

However there's a possibility that there's no easy way of watching the World Cup games. Thankfully, you'll be able to solve this issue with a Virtual Private Network (a VPN). 

A VPN lets you get around the usual digital barriers by changing your IP address, meaning you can watch your favorite TV shows even if you're going to be away from where you would normally watch your favorite shows and movies. Our favorite is ExpressVPN, which is the No. 1-rated VPN in the world right now according to our sister site, TechRadar.

Who won the World Cup 2022 final?

The World Cup 2022 final took place on Sunday December 18 at 10am ET/7am PT/3pm GMT. It was hosted in the Lusail Iconic Stadium in Qatar, which has a capacity of 88,000, making it the biggest stadium used for the tournament.

The match was between Argentina and France, and though the former won the match, it was only in penalties. Before that, the nail-biting game had a 3-3 result.

Argentina were winning 2-0 by the end of the first half, but in a blink-and-you-'ll-miss-it twist, France won and scored a penalty, and then a fantastic lay-up immediately after, ensuring the score was 2-2 by the end of injury time.

The first half of extra time resulted in no goals, and an Argentinian goal in the second half made it seem like victory was assured - until, with just minutes to go, France scored once more, ensuring that the game would continue to penalties.

Unfortunately France could it claw its way out of this one, and it lost 4-2 on penalties.

Latest World Cup 2022 fixtures

Group stage  

Sunday, November 20

Group A: Qatar (0) vs Ecuador (1)

Monday, November 21

Group B: England (6) vs Iran (2)
Group A: Senegal (0) vs Netherlands (2)
Group B: USA (1) vs Wales (1)

Tuesday, November 22

Group C: Argentina (1) vs Saudi Arabia (2)
Group D: Denmark (0) vs Tunisia (0)
Group C: Mexico (0) vs Poland (0)
Group D: France (4) vs Australia (1)

Wednesday, November 23

Group F: Morocco (0) vs Croatia (0)
Group E: Germany (1) vs Japan (2)
Group E: Spain (7) vs Costa Rica (0)
Group F: Belgium (1) vs Canada (0)

Thursday, November 24

Group G: Switzerland (1) vs Cameroon (0)
Group H: Uruguay (0) vs South Korea (0)
Group H: Portugal (3) vs Ghana (2)
Group G: Brazil (2) vs Serbia (0)

Friday, November 25

Group B: Wales (0) vs Iran (2)
Group A: Qatar (1) vs Senegal (3)
Group A: Netherlands (1) vs Ecuador (1)
Group B: England (0) vs USA (0)

Saturday, November 26

Group C: Tunisia (0) vs Australia (1)
Group C: Poland (2) vs Saudi Arabia (0)
Group D: France (2) vs Denmark (1)
Group C: Argentina (2) vs Mexico (0)

Sunday, November 27

Group E: Japan (0) vs Costa Rica (1)
Group F: Belgium (0) vs Morocco (2)
Group F: Croatia (4) vs Canada (1)
Group E: Spain (1) vs Germany (1)

Monday, November 28

Group G: Cameroon (3) vs Serbia (3)
Group G: South Korea (2) vs Ghana (3)
Group H: Brazil (1) vs Switzerland (0)
Group H: Portugal (2) vs Uruguay (0)

Tuesday, November 29

Group A: Netherlands (2) vs Qatar (0)
Group A: Ecuador (1) vs Senegal (2)
Group B: Wales (0) vs England (3)
Group B: Iran (0) vs USA (1)

Wednesday, November 30

Group D: Australia (1) vs Denmark (0)
Group D: Tunisia (1) vs France (0)
Group C: Poland (0) vs Argentina (2)
Group C: Saudi Arabia (1) vs Mexico (2)

A World Cup 2022 football lodged in the sand

  (Image credit: Getty Images)

Thursday, December 1

Group F: Croatia (0) vs Belgium (0)
Group F: Canada (1) vs Morocco (2)
Group E: Costa Rica (2) vs Germany (4)
Group E: Japan (2) vs Spain (1)

Friday, December 2

Group G: South Korea (2) vs Portugal (1)
Group G: Ghana (0) vs Uruguay (2)
Group H: Serbia (2) vs Switzerland (3)
Group H: Cameroon (1) vs Brazil (0)

Round of 16

Saturday, December 3
Netherlands (3) vs USA (1)
Argentina (2) vs Australia (1)

Sunday, December 4

France (3) vs Poland (1)
England (3) vs Senegal (0)

Monday, December 5 

Japan (1) vs Croatia (1, advances on penalties)
Brazil (4) vs South Korea (1)

Tuesday, December 6
Morocco (0, advances on penalties) vs Spain (0)
Portugal (6) vs Switzerland (1)

Quarter-finals

Friday, December 9
Croatia (1, advances on penalties) vs Brazil (1)
Netherlands (2) vs Argentina (2, advances on penalties)

Saturday, December 10
Morocco (1) vs Portugal (0)
England (1) vs France (2)

Semi-finals

Tuesday, December 13 
Argentina (3) vs Croatia (0)

Wednesday, December 14 
France (2) vs Morocco (0)

Saturday, December 17 
Croatia (2) vs Morocco (1)

Final

Sunday, December 18 
Argentina (3, wins on penalties) vs France (3)

All you need to know about the World Cup 2022

Where is World Cup 2022 being held?

The World Cup 2022 is being held in Qatar in the Middle East.

Senegal will take on the Netherlands at Al Thumama Stadium in Group A in the opening match, while hosts Qatar play Ecuador at the Al Bayt Stadium a few hours later. Eight stadiums, all within or on the outskirts of Doha, will host all the games. 

  • Lusail Stadium (80,000 capacity) will host 10 games including the final.
  • Al Bayt Stadium (60,000 capacity) will host 8 games including the opening match.
  • Stadium 974 (40,000 capacity) will host seven games.
  • Khalifa International Stadium (45,416 capacity) will host eight games including the third place play-off. 
  • Education City Stadium (40,000 capacity) will host eight games.
  • Al Thumama Stadium (40,000 capacity) will host eight games.
  • Al Janoub Stadium (40,000 capacity) will host seven games.
  • Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium (40,000) capacity) will host seven games.

Bukayo Saka World Cup 2022

Bukayo Saka will hope to provide chances for Harry Kane in the England attack. (Image credit: Getty)

Is FIFA World Cup 2022 cancelled?

FIFA's decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar was controversial and some critics have questioned the 2010 bidding process — which also awarded the 2018 World Cup to Russia — yet the tournament was not cancelled and on. 

When is USA hosting the World Cup?

The 2026 World Cup will be played in the US, Canada and Mexico, during the summer of that year. Host cities include, Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle in the US. Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey in Mexico, and Canadian cities Toronto and Vancouver will also host games. 

The 2026 FIFA World Cup Final is scheduled to be played in The MetLife Stadium in New York/New Jersey. 

World Cup 2022 group results

The 2022 World Cup began with 32 teams in eight groups of four. The top two teams from each group progressed to the Round of 16, if teams are level on points, goal difference was used to decide placings. 

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Group A: Ecuador, Netherlands, Senegal, Qatar
PositionTeamWins / Draws / LossesPoints
First placeNetherlands2/1/07
Runner-upSenegal2/0/16
3Ecuador1/1/14
4Qatar0/0/30
  • Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
  • Netherlands 2-0 Senegal
  • Qatar 1-3 Senegal
  • Ecuador 1-1 Netherlands
  • Senegal 2-1 Ecuador
  • Netherlands 2-0 Qatar
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Group B: England, Iran, USA, Wales
PositionTeamWins / Draws / LossesPoints
First placeEngland2/1/07
Runner-upUnited States1/2/05
3Iran1/0/23
4Wales0/1/21
  • England 6-2 Iran
  • United States 1-1 Wales
  • Wales 0-2 Iran
  • England 0-0 United States
  • Wales 0-3 England
  • Iran 0-1 United States
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Group C: Argentina, Mexico, Poland, Saudi Arabia
PositionTeamWins / Draws / LossesPoints
First placeArgentina2/0/16
Runner-upPoland1/1/14
3Mexico1/1/14
4Saudi Arabia1/0/23
  • Argentina 1-2 Saudi Arabia
  • Mexico 0-0 Poland
  • Poland 2-0 Saudi Arabia
  • Mexico 0-2 Argentina
  • Poland 0-2 Argentina
  • Saudi Arabia 1-2 Mexico
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Group D: Australia, Denmark, France, Tunisia
PositionTeamWins / Draws / LossesPoints
First placeFrance2/0/16
Runner-upAustralia2/0/16
3Tunisia1/1/14
4Denmark0/1/21
  • Tunisia 0-0 Denmark
  • Australia 1-4 France
  • Australia 1-0 Tunisia
  • France 2-1 Denmark
  • Denmark 0-1 Australia
  • France 0-1 Tunisia
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Group E: Costa Rica, Germany, Japan, Spain
PositionTeamWins / Draws / LossesPoints
1Japan2/0/16
2Spain1/0/14
3Germany1/1/14
4Costa Rica1/0/23
  • Japan 2-1 Germany
  • Costa Rica 0-7 Spain
  • Costa Rica 1-0 Japan
  • Spain 1-1 Germany
  • Spain 1-2 Japan
  • Costa Rica 2-4 Germany
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Group F: Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Morocco
PositionTeamWins / Draws / LossesPoints
1Morocco2/1/07
2Croatia1/2/05
3Belgium1/1/14
4Canada0/0/30
  • Croatia 0-0 Morocco
  • Canada 0-1 Belgium
  • Morocco 2-0 Belgium
  • Croatia 4-1 Canada
  • Belgium 0-0 Croatia
  • Canada 1-2 Morocco
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Group G: Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Morocco
PositionTeamWins / Draws / LossesPoints
1Brazil2/0/16
2Switzerland2/0/16
=3Cameroon1/1/14
=3Serbia0/1/21
  • Switzerland 1-0 Cameroon
  • Serbia 0-2 Brazil
  • Cameroon 3-3 Serbia
  • Brazil 1-0 Switzerland
  • Switzerland 3-2 Serbia
  • Brazil 0-1 Cameroon
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Group H: Ghana, Portugal, South Korea, Uruguay
PositionTeamWins / Draws / LossesPoints
1Portugal2/0/16
2South Korea1/1/14
=3Uruguay1/1/14
=3Ghana0/1/21
  • Uruguay 0-0 South Korea
  • Portugal 3-2 Ghana
  • South Korea 2-3 Ghana
  • Portugal 2-0 Uruguay
  • Uruguay 2-0 Ghana
  • Portugal 1-2 South Korea
Sean Marland

Sean is a Senior Feature writer for TV Times, What's On TV and TV & Satellite Week, who also writes for whattowatch.com. He's been covering the world of TV for over 15 years and in that time he's been lucky enough to interview stars like Ian McKellen, Tom Hardy and Kate Winslet. His favourite shows are I'm Alan Partridge, The Wire, People Just Do Nothing and Succession and in his spare time he enjoys drinking tea, doing crosswords and watching football. 

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