Gareth Southgate and England are now finalising their preparations for the Qatar World Cup, which kicks off for the Three Lions on 21 November. But here at home, we are also making our own preparations. Plans for winter pub visits, afternoons off work and fan parks are getting underway as fans prepare for the strangest World Cup of all.
Instead of blazing sunshine, it will be rain and instead of beer gardens it will be sitting around the fire watching a completely unique World Cup. One thing that has come up in recent years has been how the Three Lions have performed on different TV channels. England failed to win a single game on Channel 4 during the Nations League, while the infamous ITV curse has been lifted in recent years with wins over Colombia and Denmark at major tournaments.
This year, once again, every single World Cup match will be on free-to-air TV, across the BBC and ITV. Now the group games have been divided up between the two British broadcasters and we know where to tune in for England and Wales matches this winter.
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England’s opening match vs Iran, on 21 November at 1pm, will be on the BBC, as will the final group game - the mouthwatering England vs Wales clash. That leaves England vs USA on ITV, while they will also have the first two picks of the last 16 matches, likely to be the England and Wales ties, should they both qualify.
ITV also get first choice of the quarter-finals, which will be England if they get that far due to the massive viewing figures, before BBC take first choice of the semi-finals. Then, both channels will show the final as is now the norm. But if you want to know where to find every single World Cup group game in the UK, we have got you covered.
Below is a comprehensive list of every single group game and what channel it will be on in the United Kingdom.
England’s group games:
21 November, 13:00: England v Iran - BBC
25 November, 19:00: England v USA - ITV
29 November, 19:00: Wales v England - BBC
Wales’ group games:
21 November, 19:00: USA v Wales - ITV
25 November, 10:00: Wales v Iran - BBC
29 November, 19:00: Wales v England - BBC
Setanta Sports ——— 83.3% 🏆
Channel 5 ——— 75%
BBC/BBC 1 ——— 57%
ITV ——— 55.5%
Sky Sports ——— 50.7%
Eurosport ——— 50%
BBC 2 ——— 40%
U>Directsports TV ——— 0%
PPV ——— 0%
Channel 4 ——— 0%
Every World Cup group game:
20 November, 16:00: Qatar v Ecuador - BBC
21 November, 10:00: Senegal v Netherlands - ITV
21 November, 13:00: England v Iran - BBC
21 November, 19:00: USA v Wales - ITV
22 November, 10:00: Argentina v Saudi Arabia - ITV
22 November, 13:00: Denmark v Tunisia - ITV
22 November, 16:00: Mexico v Poland - BBC
22 November, 19:00: France v Australia - BBC
23 November, 10:00: Morocco v Croatia - ITV
23 November, 13:00: Germany v Japan - ITV
23 November, 16:00: Spain v Costa Rica - ITV
23 November, 19:00: Belgium v Canada - BBC
24 November, 10:00: Switzerland v Cameroon - ITV
24 November, 13:00: Uruguay v South Korea - BBC
24 November, 16:00: Portugal v Ghana - ITV
24 November, 19:00: Brazil v Serbia - BBC
25 November, 10:00: Wales v Iran - BBC
25 November, 13:00: Qatar v Senegal - BBC
25 November, 16:00: Netherlands v Ecuador - ITV
25 November, 19:00: England v USA - ITV
26 November, 10:00: Tunisia v Australia - BBC
26 November, 13:00: Poland v Saudi Arabia - ITV
26 November, 16:00: France v Denmark - ITV
26 November, 19:00: Argentina v Mexico - ITV
27 November, 10:00: Japan v Costa Rica - ITV
27 November, 13:00: Belgium v Morocco - BBC
27 November, 16:00: Croatia v Canada - BBC
27 November, 19:00: Spain v Germany - BBC
28 November, 10:00: Cameroon v Serbia - ITV
28 November, 13:00: South Korea v Ghana - BBC
28 November, 16:00: Brazil v Switzerland - ITV
28 November, 19:00: Portugal v Uruguay - ITV
29 November, 15:00: Ecuador v Senegal - ITV
29 November, 15:00: Netherlands v Qatar - ITV
29 November, 19:00: Iran v USA - BBC
29 November, 19:00: Wales v England - BBC
30 November, 15:00: Tunisia v France - BBC
30 November, 15:00: Australia v Denmark - BBC
30 November, 19:00: Poland v Argentina - BBC
30 November, 19:00: Saudi Arabia v Mexico - BBC
1 December, 16:00: Canada v Morocco - BBC
1 December, 16:00: Croatia v Belgium - BBC
1 December, 19:00: Japan v Spain - ITV
1 December, 19:00: Costa Rica v Germany - ITV
2 December, 16:00: Ghana v Uruguay - BBC
2 December, 16:00: South Korea v Portugal - BBC
2 December, 19:00: Serbia v Switzerland - ITV
2 December, 19:00: Cameroon v Brazil - ITV
