World Cup 2022: BBC And ITV Reveal TV Coverage Schedule

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar will take place in November, and following the fixtures draw, the BBC and ITV have revealed their detailed TV coverage plans for the tournament.

The matches will be free to watch on Freeview, Freesat and the pay-TV platforms, with the BBC airing games on its linear channels as well as BBC iPlayer, and ITV airing games on its linear channel, and their upcoming new streaming service – ITVX, as well as on STV and STV Player.

In fact, ITVX (read more about it here) is scheduled to launch in November – exactly because ITV wants people to try it for the first time when watching the FIFA World Cup.

The tournament will kick off on ITV and STV in Scotland on November 21, with coverage of the first match between the Netherlands and Senegal.

The BBC will show England’s opening match against Iran, as well as the possible Home Nations group match against the final European qualifier, which will be one of Wales, Scotland or Ukraine.

ITV will show England’s group game against the USA and will have picks one and two of the Round of 16 and first pick of the quarter-final stages.

Should Wales or Scotland qualify, ITV will show their group match against the USA.

The BBC will then have first pick of the semi-final stage of the tournament and will also show the group matches between Spain and Germany, Brazil and Serbia and Argentina and Poland – as well as two matches with the world champions France and all of Belgium’s group games.

ITV will also show standout group stage matches featuring number one FIFA ranked country Brazil against Switzerland and Cameroon, World Cup holders France’s key match against Denmark, as well as games involving other heavyweights Argentina, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal.

Philip Bernie, BBC Head of TV Sport said: “With extensive 24/7 coverage across BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, radio, online and social media, the World Cup promises to be a huge event to wrap up a major sporting year on the BBC.”

Niall Sloane, ITV Director of Sport, said: “The World Cup is now in focus and we’re delighted to be able to bring viewers coverage of what promises to be some of the standout games of the tournament across ITV channels and our new free streaming service ITVX, which launches this autumn”.

There’s no word yet on whether the BBC will air some of the matches in 4K (Ultra HD) on BBC iPlayer, as they did with the UEFA Euro 2020 Games.

World Cup 2022 – The Full TV Schedule Split

All kickoff times are GMT.

The World Cup Final traditionally airs live on both ITV and the BBC.

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