The last two matches of World Cup 2026, including England’s third-place play-off against France, will be broadcast live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer this weekend.
Sunday’s final between Spain and Argentina at the New York New Jersey Stadium will also be live on ITV1 and ITVX, but the broadcaster’s Saturday schedule is dedicated to the rugby union Nations Championship, including the aptly timed clash between Argentina and England.
Three Lions fans could be forgiven for never wanting to watch another World Cup match after their heartbreaking defeat to Argentina in Wednesday’s semi-final.
England were hoping to end 60 years of hurt at this summer’s tournament in North America and were heading for the final after Anthony Gordon’s 55th-minute opener but invited Argentina on to them, due in part to some questionable tactical decisions from Thomas Tuchel, and conceded two late goals to crash out.
UK viewers keen to catch the final two games of the World Cup will have the option to do so on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Coverage of Saturday’s third-place play-off starts at 9:30pm UK time for a 10pm kick-off UK time, while Sunday’s final coverage begins at 7pm for an 8pm kick-off.
As usual, ITV will also broadcast the final live on Sunday, with coverage under way at 7pm, but Saturday will be all about the rugby.
The final round of summer fixtures from the sport’s new 12-team tournament, the Nations Championship, begins at 8:10am with New Zealand v Ireland and runs through to the evening when, in a cruel twist of fate, Argentina and England face off (8:10pm kick-off).
Five of the matches are live on ITV1, including Fiji v Scotland (2:10pm) and South Africa v Wales (4:40pm) apart from Japan v France (9:40am), which is on ITV4.
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The World Cup 2026 final will be broadcast live on BBC One, ITV1, BBC iPlayer and ITVX from 7pm on Sunday 19 July (8pm kick-off UK time). Coverage of the third-place play-off begins at 9:30pm for a 10pm kick-off UK time.
ITV is the home of the Nations Championship, with all six of the games from the final weekend of the summer window live on TV and ITVX on Saturday.
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Authors
Ned is a sports writer at RadioTimes.com. He has covered a host of sports from EFL football, international cricket and golf all the way through to bike polo and triathlon.
