World Cup: TV channel, kick-off times and live streaming in the UK

The World Cup is the most watched competition on the planet, across all sports, and the only one whose final draws an audience that does not follow football the rest of the time. Held every four years since 1930, with two interruptions caused by war, it has grown from thirteen teams to thirty-two, and to forty-eight from 2026 - an expansion that multiplies the nations involved and stretches the tournament beyond a month. Brazil holds the record with five titles, ahead of Germany and Italy; France, Argentina and Uruguay complete the list of multiple winners. What sets this tournament apart has less to do with quality than with stakes: an elimination cannot be made good four years later with the same squad, and the smallest error becomes permanent. Kick-off times depend entirely on the host country, and that is the first thing to check: a World Cup in Qatar is watched in the afternoon in Europe, a World Cup in North America in the evening and through the night.

Also known as: Coupe-Du-Monde