How and where to watch the World Cup 2026 on Sky

[lettice]

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@Nimbob wrote:

Amazing work @lettice!

Everyone, Who are you most excited to watch in the World Cup? (Home team dosen't count)

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I just love my football, will try and watch most matches, any time of day I can.

Always love Argentina and Brazil for the pure skill.

France, Spain and Germany sure show often how to gel as a team and often make some great viewing.

Plus of course, so many of those players are all so familiar to us, it's great to see them perform on a different stage.

[lettice]

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@Nimbob wrote:

Plus, goes without saying... maybe Scott Mctominay pulls off another acrobatic overhead kick.

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I rememberthat on Sky Sports News, they were showing it over and over and the Scottish fans going mad over it 😀

That would be a great one for the new ref cam, if something happens like that in this World Cup, so far it's shown some great new angles.

[Sauzee4]

So if you watch from start on BBC iplayer and fast forward it comes up with visible key moments in the game. 

Who thinks up these things??

This is going to be a miserable experience for catching up on games. Something we've down without issues since VCRs were invented. Until now. 

[StuMurph]

Trying to watch the World Cup football on these channels and the picture is jerky (different frame rate from the standard BBC channels) and the sound is muffled and tinny. Anyone else having these issues?

[mikealanr]

Hi @StuMurph 

Nope working here. These channels place more demand on your connection that the non real time channels. Elsewhere on the community this has been stated as 40Mbps.

What speed is Netflix showing as you reciving? (Profile pic > get help > connectivity check).

MikeAlanR

[lettice]

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@StuMurph wrote:

Trying to watch the World Cup football on these channels and the picture is jerky (different frame rate from the standard BBC channels) and the sound is muffled and tinny. Anyone else having these issues?

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I've watched all four matches live so far on the BBC and ITV RT channels and found it to be fine.

As mentioned in the first post on here;

Sky recommends you need 40Mbps minimum available on your local network if using real time with your Sky Stream pucks or Sky Glass TV

From my own local network tests, I find when using these RT channels, both my Sky Stream pucks use a few Mbps more per puck constantly and there is a smaller bigger Mbps hit for a short time on first switch to the channel.

[Stephen+Mourton]

@Sauzee4   Generally I find the BBC iPlayer works well, and all games of the World Cup they broadcast will be available in UHD.  When it comes to football my heart always sinks when ITV is the broadcaster, for the reasons stated above and the lack of UHD coverage.  I much prefer Sky's coverage, I did notice however that with ITV if watching live there is now the option to watch in real time.

[lettice]

For a previous report on here and assume the VR team taking some action from early email reports of it.

The Sky World Cup main tile area has now been updated with both the upfront live rail showing the ITV and BBC upcoming live matches. 

Noticed also, that the BBC are offering highlights of matches in UHD on their iPlayer, in addition to their live UHD that we can watch on our supported Sky TV boxes, as mentioned in first post here.

Have Myself found the BBC iPlayer UHD on my pucks to be a good HLG pq so far for some parts of the matches I watched in UHD.
To be honest though, I've mostly watched the RT broadcasts on ITV and BBC (having added to my favourites, making it so much easier to remember  their new channel numbers) and finding the pq and soundscape there to be spot on so far.

[Sauzee4]

The loss of a real recording functionality really hits home when you can't get up in the morning and watch a 2am game as live with no hassle. 

Only option to watch BBC games this way means not being able to forward and of the pre match or half time or they show you everything that's about to happen. 

Are they aware that streaming is the only option available for a lot of people now through glass, steam etc. Serns a really odd thing to do when people who want to see the score or highlights have loads of ways of doing so without impacting on those who'd like to watch a whole game. 

[TimmyBGood]

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@Sauzee4 wrote:

Are they aware that streaming is the only option available for a lot of people now through glass, steam etc. 

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I suspect the implications haven't been absorbed by the programme controllers, particularly if they've been involved in broadcast for years (which is going to be typical for anyone in a senior position)

[StuMurph]

Netflix speed check is showing as 235 Mbps. I've got no UHD on the iPlayer app either, and no World Cup row on the home page (it was there yesterday, gone today).

Sounds like my Stream box has just decided the World Cup isn't worth the effort!

[lettice]

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@StuMurph wrote:

I've got no UHD on the iPlayer app either, and no World Cup row on the home page (it was there yesterday, gone today).

Please reread the first post in this thread, it shows a number of ways to get the Sky World Cup page, with all the different rails.

With  promotion of other content, it may not always be totally upfront on the Sky homepage.

UHD on BBC iPlayer is only available for the live matches and match highlights. The highlights are available to watch in iPlayer now.

BBC have not mentioned any full match replays available in UHD, if that is what you are looking for. Full replays are all there as they were broadcast live and are in HD, along with the live broadcast included pre, post and half time punditry.

ITV also are showing full match replays, as they were broadcast live, also with the included pre, post and halftime punditry.

[StuMurph]

I've got no UHD of *any* kind on my iPlayer app - not during live matches, no match highlights, no drama or other programming.

Could someone also confirm who is deciding to delete my responses on this thread please?

[lettice]

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@StuMurph wrote:

I've got no UHD of *any* kind on my iPlayer app - not during live matches, no match highlights, no drama or other programming.

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Is this a recent issue for you that your UHD is not working on your Sky Stream iPlayer app?

We have seen it on here before with the Sky Stream and Sky Glass iPlayer app, that the UHD seem to get dropped off.

I and and a fellow Superuser often report the issue, that seems to come and go.

One solution we find that often works. Go into the iPlayer app and scroll down the left to Settings Beta, turn that on/off, it seems to refresh the app temporarily and UHD appears.

The annoyance is that after the Sky Glass/Stream has been in standby for a good hour or so and you then return to iPlayer UHD is missing again and you have to do the temporary solution again.

Please let us know if this helps.

We can report this again if you like, if it's happening as above.

[StuMurph]

Thanks.

I recall the UHD icon being on iPlayer thumbnails 3-4 days ago but none now. I've tried cycling the 'Beta' setting on and off a few times, and tried a reset through the Stream settings but still no change.