How to Watch Soccer
Soccer fans can get their kicks with these fútbol-friendly TV providers and streaming services.
fuboTV’s Elite plan ($79.99 a month) is the best overall TV package for soccer action. It offers 200+ channels, including the most soccer-oriented networks out of any TV provider. These channels encompass leagues such as the English Premier League, Ligue 1, and Major League Soccer (MLS) with both English- and Spanish-language coverage.
But if you seek a lower monthly price, ESPN+ offers the most bang for your buck at $9.99 a month. While traditional sports channels aren’t included with the subscription, you’ll still have access to all games from the Bundesliga, La Liga, and the English Football League (EFL). Paramount+ also offers a handful of the world’s top soccer leagues if you just want a taste of the beautiful game alongside a wide selection of movies and TV series.
Not every league is on the same set of channels, so if you’re after a specific one, we’ll explain which channels score you your favs.
What channel is soccer on?
The best soccer channel is the one that airs the games you want to see. But some soccer leagues are no longer accessible on traditional TV channels. In fact, you may need to sign up for a streaming service (or two) to watch your favorite team in action across all competitions. That’s why it’s essential that you know which competitions your favorite club participates in and where you must go to watch those games.
Best channels for watching soccer
- beIN SPORTS broadcasts France’s Ligue 1, the African Cup of Nations, and the Turkish Süper Lig.
- ESPN channels and ESPN+ cover the Bundesliga, La Liga, Emirates FA Cup, English Football League (EFL), Carabao Cup (EFL Cup), Scottish Premiership, Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, United Soccer League (USL), Eredivisie, Indian Super League, and more.
- FOX and FOX Sports channels FS1, FS2, and Fox Deportes broadcast major international soccer tournaments like the FIFA World Cup, FIFA Women’s World Cup, and the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
- HBO Max and Turner Sports channels TBS and TNT are home to 20+ US Soccer matches per year, beginning in 2023. The English-language coverage comprises US men’s and women’s national team games—including World Cup qualifiers, friendlies, and special events like the SheBelieves Cup.
- NBC, USA Network, CNBC, and streaming service Peacock Premium are the sole broadcasters of English-language Premier League coverage and the Olympic Games in the US.
- Paramount+ is home to the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League. It also carries Italy’s Serie A and select matches from the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and Women’s Super League (FAWSL). CBS Sports coverage also airs on CBS, CBS Sports Network, and CBS Sports HQ.
- Telemundo offers Spanish-language coverage of the FIFA World Cup and Premier League.
- Univision and its sister channels Galavisión, TUDN, and UniMás have live Spanish-language coverage of the Champions League, Liga MX, and Liga MX Femenil. Additional TelevisaUnivision sports coverage streams on ViX Premium.
Best TV providers for watching soccer
- Editor’s choice: fuboTV ($74.99–$94.99/mo.)
- Best value: ESPN+ ($9.99/mo. or $99.99/yr.)
- Best for soccer and entertainment: Paramount+ ($4.99–$14.99/mo. or $49.99–$119.99/yr.)
- Cheapest: Over-the-air antenna ($20.00–$60.00 one-time purchase)
Editor’s choice: fuboTV
Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Compatible device and internet connection required.
Pros
- Large channel lineups for sports
- Many add-on options
- beIN SPORTS and TUDN overflow channels
Cons
- Expensive plans
- No Turner Sports channels like TBS, TNT, and truTV
Some refer to fuboTV as Netflix for soccer fans, and that’s not far off. Each of fuboTV’s three main plans features 100+ channels, with a majority of them pertaining to sports. That’s exactly why it’s one of CableTV.com’s favorite streaming services for sports.
We recommend fuboTV’s Elite plan. For $84.99 a month, you’ll get 200+ channels and 1,000 hours of DVR space. More importantly, you’ll have access to over 30 channels that offer soccer coverage. Because of this, fuboTV shows the most soccer games per day than any other TV service out there. These matches appear on NBCUniversal, FOX Sports, beIN SPORTS, ESPN, and Univision channels.
Through fuboTV alone, you’ll have English-language access to the Premier League, Ligue 1, MLS, and the FIFA World Cup. You’ll also get Champions League, Liga MX, and Leagues Cup matches en Español.
If you want a little extra, fuboTV also offers channel add-ons. These are especially great if your enthusiasm for sports extends beyond soccer (hello, NFL RedZone and NBA League Pass). But its International Sports Plus add-on ($6.99 a month) can take your soccer-viewing to the next stage with eight additional soccer-heavy channels, including GolTV and FOX Soccer Plus.
If you’re seeking specific leagues not found on traditional TV channels, ESPN+ and Paramount+ will most likely have your back.
Best value: ESPN Plus
Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Compatible device and internet connection required.
Pros
- Plenty of live soccer and college sports
- Rich on-demand library
Cons
- No traditional ESPN channel access without TV provider login
- No live NFL or NBA games
ESPN+ is the streaming service with the most soccer leagues. At only $9.99 a month, you’ll get the best value for your money with the service’s extensive coverage of some of the world’s biggest leagues and tournaments.
Two of the world’s top leagues, the German Bundesliga and Spain’s La Liga, receive exclusive coverage on ESPN+. That means El Clásico and Der Klassiker are under the same roof. While select games from these leagues also air on ABC and ESPN, every game on ESPN+ has English- and Spanish-language options.
Pro tip: What do Robert Lewandowski, Baby Yoda, and June Osborne have in common? Probably not a whole lot, but you can watch all three of them when you bundle ESPN+ with Disney+ and Hulu for as low as $12.99 a month.
The major downside of ESPN+ is that you don’t get access to the traditional ESPN channels (ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNews) alongside your ESPN+ content without a login from a cable, satellite, or live TV streaming provider. From a soccer standpoint, this means ESPN+ won’t give you every MLS and college soccer match because those leagues aren’t exclusive to the service the way some of the foreign leagues are.
If you’re looking for a TV provider to pair with ESPN+, we recommend Hulu + Live TV or Sling TV for traditional ESPN access. Hulu + Live TV (starting at $69.99 a month) is a winning choice because it includes ESPN+ at no extra cost and has unlimited DVR space. But Sling TV’s Orange plan ($40.00 a month) is a much cheaper option for getting ESPN and ESPN2—though you’ll need a separate subscription to ESPN+.
Best for soccer and entertainment: Paramount Plus
Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Compatible device and internet connection required.
Pros
- All live Champions League games
- Live World Cup qualifiers from select confederations
Cons
- Limited sports and movies
- Small (but growing) lineup of original shows
Behind ESPN+, Paramount+ is the second most important streaming service for fans of the beautiful game (sorry, Peacock Premium). That’s because Paramount+ is home to every live game in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Europa Conference League.
Through these leagues, you will see Europe’s top soccer teams in one app. Paramount+ also carries Serie A, Coppa Italia, and NWSL matches, as well as some CONCACAF and AFC competitions.
What separates Paramount+ from ESPN+ is that it’s not primarily a sports streaming service. That means you can also stream thousands of TV episodes and movies during the offseason or between matchdays of your favorite soccer leagues. You can literally go from watching Mo Salah score a worldie to Jean-Luc Picard trying to enjoy his retirement from Starfleet.
Paramount+ has two plans. Its Essential plan ($4.99 a month) comes with ad-based, on-demand content and doesn’t give you live TV streaming access to your local CBS station. On the other hand, its Premium plan ($9.99 a month) has ad-free, on-demand content and in-app access to CBS.
No matter what plan you choose, you’ll have access to every sporting event unless it airs live on your local CBS channel (which you can watch via a digital antenna), so we recommend the Essential plan for $5.00 less a month—as long as you can stand the ads.
Cheapest: Over-the-air (OTA) HD TV antenna
CableTV.com utilizes paid Amazon links. Amazon.com Price; $47.99 (as of 3/13/23 10:15 a.m. CT). Read full disclaimer.
Pros
- Low, one-time price
- Local coverage
Cons
- No out-of-market coverage
- No DVR
At the bare minimum, you should invest in an over-the-air (OTA) antenna to watch soccer games that play on your local TV stations. An antenna is a one-time purchase that’ll give you access to several channels depending on your location and the antenna’s range. We like the Mohu Leaf 50 ($47.99 on Amazon*) because of its 60-mile range and lightweight design. But we highlight several other great antennas on our Best Antennas for Cord-Cutters page.
Local channels carry some of the biggest soccer matchups, like the recent MLS Playoffs and the NWSL Championship. You can watch select Premier League games on NBC, while other league fixtures air on ABC and FOX. CBS is also a go-to channel for some Champions League and NWSL games.
A digital antenna also provides coverage to some of the world’s biggest sporting events, like the FIFA World Cup, the FIFA Women’s World Cup, and the Olympics.
How to watch soccer for free
If you’re looking for (legal) ways to watch soccer without spending a penny, you won’t find much more than extended highlights, replays, and analysis programs. Regardless, you can catch those on the following services.
- FIFA+: Soccer’s highest governing body recently launched its streaming service for free. It includes 40,000 live matches per year and an archive with over 2,000 hours of content—including every men’s and women’s World Cup match captured on video.
- Canela.TV: Canela Media’s free streaming platform offers live and on-demand Spanish-language programming. Some of its sports offerings are like other free services, but its Canela Deportes channel has unique and original coverage.
- Pluto TV: This free service has 200+ live and on-demand channels, including CBS Sports HQ, beIN SPORTS Xtra, FOX Sports, and a Major League Soccer channel.
- The Roku Channel: Roku’s free live TV service recently broke the 200-channel barrier, and it features channels like beIN SPORTS Xtra, fubo Sports Network, ViX (formerly PrendeTV), and Real Madrid TV.
- Tubi: With nearly 100 live and on-demand channels, Tubi’s sports offerings include beIN SPORTS Xtra, FOX Sports, fubo Sports Network, and Real Madrid TV.
- ViX: TelevisaUnivision’s free streaming service offers Spanish-language soccer coverage with channels like beIN SPORTS Xtra en Español, Zona TUDN, Lo Mejor de Liga MX, and Lo Mejor del Futbol Europeo.
- Xumo: This live and on-demand service has 190+ free channels, including beIN SPORTS Xtra, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports, and fubo Sports Network.
Final take
The best TV service for watching soccer depends on which teams, leagues, and confederations you want to watch.
For the soccer fan that wants it all, fuboTV is the best overall way to watch soccer on TV. Its massive sports-oriented channel lineups are especially great for catching foreign leagues. Plus, you’ll get up to 1,000 hours of DVR storage space if certain kick-off times don’t mesh with your schedule.
Meanwhile, ESPN+ offers the best value with access to many top leagues at a low price. Paramount+ features some of the world’s most popular soccer competitions and an extensive library of entertainment content. And, hey, if your money tree is not in bloom, you can always go with a one-time purchase of a digital antenna or try out Pluto TV’s free sports channels.
Ultimately, it’s the player’s choice: You can’t go wrong with these providers. Pick one that’s right for you.
How to watch soccer FAQ
What soccer leagues does ESPN have?
ESPN shows select college soccer games and matches from the German Bundesliga and Spain’s La Liga. A separate subscription to ESPN+ provides even more soccer coverage, including all Bundesliga, La Liga, and English Football League (EFL) games. It also had out-of-market MLS games, which are now with Apple TV.
Can you watch ESPN+ on TV?
Yes, you can watch ESPN+ on a TV using a compatible streaming device like Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, and more.
What is the best channel for soccer?
The best channel for soccer is the one where you can find the most action from your favorite leagues. fuboTV is the TV service with the most soccer channels, so you’ll most likely find the best channel for your soccer needs within its different plans.
Methodology
Our soccer-crazed experts spent over 100 hours testing TV plans and streaming services to determine the best ways to watch domestic and international soccer. We evaluated each provider on several devices and compared prices, channel lineups, and league coverage.
To learn more about our methods, check out our How We Rank page.
Disclaimer
Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
*Amazon.com price as of 3/13/23 10:15 a.m. CT. Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product. CableTV.com utilizes paid Amazon links.
Certain content that appears on this site comes from Amazon. This content is provided “as is” and is subject to change or removal at any time.
