The favorites don’t get a pass. Not in July. France takes on Tuesday to try and keep its title dream alive. Sweden wants to be the villain.
Les Bleus look scary right now. They swept Group I without breaking a sweat. Kylian Mbappé scored four times. Ousmane Dembele dropped a hat-trick against Norway before halftime. The team is clicking. They feel unstoppable. Or close enough to it.
Sweden is… messier. Graham Potter’s side scraped into the knockout stage. They finished third. They leaked goals like a sieve against the Netherlands in the group stage. Defensively, it is concerning. But you can’t ignore the offense. Alexander Isak from Newcastle is there. Viktor Gyokeres from Arsenal is there. That is two elite strikers on the same pitch. France might sweat. They definitely should.
New York New Jersey Stadium hosts this one. MetLife to the locals. Kickoff is at 5 p.m. ET. West coast folks, set alarms for 2 p.m. PT. In the UK, you’re up at 10 p.m. BST. Australians, enjoy the morning. It starts at 7 a.m. AEST on Wednesday.
Streaming the Chaos
How do you actually see this? If you are outside the US, a VPN helps. It isn’t just for bypassing blocks, though that is the usual motive. It encrypts traffic. Stops ISPs from throttling your speed. Good for public Wi-Fi at the airport too.
Just check the terms of service first. Some platforms ban VPNs. Don’t get caught in a cat-and-mouse game unless you know the rules.
US: English Commentary
Fox owns the English rights. They broadcast everything. Every single match. Fox and FS1 are the channels.
“Exclusive English live broadcast rights… are with Fox”
For cord-cutters, Fox One is the cheap option. It’s $20 a month. You get every match. Simple math. If you hate subscriptions, you can try YouTube TV or DirecTV. Hulu Plus works too. They carry the necessary channels.
US: Spanish Commentary
NBCUniversal handles the Spanish feed. Telemundo takes 92 games. Universo gets the other 12. You stream this on Peacock. It comes with Dolby Vision. Sound is Atmos quality. This match? Telemundo has it.
UK: Free and Easy
No paywalls here. ITV and BBC share the duty. This game lands on ITV1. Stream it on ITVX. Pre-show starts at 9:15 p.m. The ball drops at 10 p.m. Free in the UK is always a nice feeling.
Australia: SBS Does It Again
Australia wins on price again. SBS broadcasts every 2024 match for free. Every single one. No extra fee. Just tune in.
Canada: The Bell Deal
Canada is split by language, as usual. TSN for English. CTV also shows it. French speakers look to RDS. For streaming, TSN Plus covers the action. Bell Media holds the bag here.
Will Sweden Shock Paris?
France looks built to win. But Sweden has Isak and Gyokeres. One bad moment. One lucky bounce. Is it really that easy for Les Bleus? Probably not. The World Cup is never that simple.
