It’s a World Cup summer, which means an excuse for England fans to sing Sweet Caroline and tell everyone football’s coming home.With the tournament taking place across North America, there will be afternoon, evening, and early-morning kick-off times for those watching in England. To test the stamina, some games start at 2am BST, others are at 4am and 5am — but there are more palatable 6pm, 8pm and 9pm starts, too.From June 11 to July 19, there will be 48 teams, 104 fixtures, and over 9,000 hours of football to enjoy watching, so here’s how to watch the World Cup in England. All times are BST.When are England playing?The group stages will be played from June 11 to 27. England are in Group L alongside Croatia, Ghana, and Panama. Their fixtures are:June 17: England vs Croatia, 9pm — Live on ITV and ITVX
June 23: England vs Ghana, 9pm — Live on BBC and BBC iPlayer
June 27: England vs Panama, 10pm — Live on ITV and ITVXWhat TV channels are showing the World Cup?All 104 games will be on free-to-air television across ITV and the BBC in the United Kingdom. Both broadcasters will show more than 50 games each. There will also be live commentary on every game on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.ITV will air England’s group games against Croatia and Panama, while the match against Ghana is on the BBC.If England reach the latter stages, their round-of-32, last-16, and semi-final games would be on the BBC, with ITV having the first two picks for the quarter-finals.For the final, the channels go head-to-head as that match will be shown on both.ITV will broadcast from Brooklyn, New York, featuring their regular pundits Roy Keane, Ian Wright, and Gary Neville, with former Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou, USWNT head coach Emma Hayes, and former Spain international Juan Mata also joining them.The BBC’s coverage will be from Salford, near Manchester, with former England internationals-turned-pundits Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney and Micah Richards joined by former Chelsea players Olivier Giroud and Cesar Azpilicueta, and former Tottenham and Brentford boss Thomas Frank.What about pubs?Many pubs in the UK typically close at 11pm. But in England and Wales, they will be allowed to stay open until 2am for home nation matches in the later stages of the tournament.The government announced in January that for the quarter-finals, pubs can stay open until 2am for games starting at 10pm and until 1am for quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final starting at, or before, 9pm.Many pubs in the UK typically close at 11pm (Benjamin Cremel/AFP via Getty Images)If England win their group, they could face Brazil in the quarter-finals in Miami on Saturday, July 11, scheduled for a 10pm kick-off time. Both semi-finals, on July 14 and July 15, are scheduled to start at 8pm. The final on July 19 kicks off at 8pm.
