The timing of the tournament is inconsequential. The 2022 World Cup will be nothing short of a winter festival in England.
Well over a third of the nation watched the Three Lions’ semi-final defeat to Croatia in Russia four years ago, and a thrilling Euro 2020 campaign means viewership is poised to be sky-high for the World Cup in Qatar.
Supporters that won’t be making the trip out to the Middle East will be able to watch England’s matches on BBC and ITV this winter with these channels also providing streaming services.
The BBC have been a long-time broadcaster of the World Cup in England. Their history with the tournament stretches back to 1966. In 2022, the BBC will air 33 live matches on TV and iPlayer across the 28 days of the tournament – including two of England’s group games.
Guy Mowbray and Steve Wilson are the premier voices in the commentary box, with the likes of Martin Keown, Dion Dublin, Danny Murphy, Robbie Savage and Peter Schmeichel lined up for co-commentary duties.
Gary Lineker will once again serve as the BBC’s leading host of the tournament and he’ll be joined in the studio by an array of pundits from across the globe. Gilberto Silva, Pablo Zabaleta, Mark Schwarzer and Didier Drogba will join the usual crowd in the BBC studio. Those familiar faces are Alex Scott, Jermaine Jenas, Rio Ferdinand and Alan Shearer.
This is the 14th World Cup in which BBC and ITV have shared broadcasting duties of the tournament. ITV’s history with the World Cup also stretches back to ’66.
ITV’s commentary team for the tournament in Qatar will be led by Sam Matterface, Clive Tyldesley, and Jon Champion. Ally McCoist is back for more co-commentary (to the delight of the vast majority) along with Lee Dixon, John Hartson and newbie Andros Townsend.
ITV have secured several box-office figures on the punditry table such as Roy Keane, Gary Neville, and Ian Wright, with Mark Pougatch, Laura Woods, and Seema Jaswal sharing presenting duties. Graeme Souness, Joe Cole, Nigel de Jong, Hal Robson-Kanu, Nadia Nadim, Eniola Aluko and Karen Carney make up the rest of ITV’s World Cup pundits.
Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions breezed through qualifying and automatically progressed into the World Cup. England won eight of their ten games and conceded just three goals.
Despite a dire Nations League campaign in 2022, England are one of the favourites to go all the way in Qatar. They’re currently ranked as the fifth-best side in the world and have been gifted a favourable group which many expect them to top comfortably.
Southgate’s side take on Carlos Queiroz’s rugged Iran on Matchday 1 before the Revolutionary War rivals pit their wits against each other on Matchday 2. Wales will be up for the fight to round off the group, but England supporters will be hopeful that their place in the round of 16 would’ve already been secured by the time that clash rolls around.
Location: Doha
Stadium: Khalifa International Stadium
Date: 21 November 2022
Kick-off time: 13:00 (GMT)
Referee: TBC
TV channel/stream: BBC One, BBC iPlayer
Location: Al Khor
Stadium: Al Bayt Stadium
Date: 25 November 2022
Kick-off time: 19:00 (GMT)
Referee: TBC
TV channel/stream: ITV1, ITV Hub
Location: Al-Rayyan
Stadium: Al-Rayyan Stadium
Date: 29 November 2022
Kick-off time: 19:00 (GMT)
Referee: TBC
TV channel/stream: BBC One, BBC iPlayer
Credit: 90min.com
