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How to Watch the FIFA World Cup
Every four years the world gathers together to watch one of the greatest sporting events on the planet. The FIFA World Cup has been regarded as one of the most prestigious titles that an athlete can win. In 2022, the world’s best footballing countries will go up against one another once again to fight it out for the all-important prize.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup will take place in Qatar this year, and it’s one that you certainly don’t want to be missing out on! But many people all around the world have been asking about how to watch FIFA World Cup online — after all, live streaming has become one of the fastest growing channels that you can use to watch sports.
The truth is that watching the 2022 FIFA World Cup online won’t be easy. Unless you’re paying incredibly expensive subscription fees, you won’t have easy access to any streams. Moreover, you might not even have access to some of the best and most popular FIFA World Cup live streams around the world because of geo-blocking restrictions. Not to worry though, keep reading to find out how you can watch the 2022 FIFA World Cup from anywhere in the world!
What is Geo-blocking?
Well, what’s geo-blocking all about? If you frequently use the internet, specifically for sports live streams, you have likely encountered geo-blocking before. Geo-blocking is essentially when you are blocked from accessing specific content on a website. When trying to access a video or a live stream, you’ll simply be met with an error message stating: “the content you are trying to access is not available in your region”.
As frustrating as they might be, geo-blocking restrictions have been put in place for a very good reason. The main reason why it exists is because of licensing and broadcasting rights. Media companies such as Sky Sports have to pay millions of dollars just to acquire the rights to broadcast events such as the FIFA World Cup.
When they secure broadcasting rights, they also need to abide by a set of rules, such as where they are allowed to broadcast the content — usually only in their local region or country. This prevents one media company from creating a monopoly, and it ensures that the sporting event and governing body (FIFA) can sell its broadcasting rights to multiple partners all around the world for a higher price.
Streaming websites will use your device’s IP address to pinpoint its physical location. Based on this information, the website will determine whether you should be prevented from accessing the content or not. In theory then, if you were able to change this IP address, you can access any website no matter where you are in the world.
What is a VPN?
You’d be forgiven for thinking that changing an IP address requires an immense amount of technical expertise and knowledge. However, that is no longer the case! Thanks to the incredible advances in technology, you can change your IP address at the click of a button.
All you need is a virtual private network, but you might know it better as a VPN. VPNs are used to encrypt your internet connection, which will mask anything that you are doing on your device while using the internet. Not even your internet service provider or the government can keep track of your internet traffic. In other words, this cybersecurity tool is excellent for privacy and security on your device.
But, that’s not what we’re here for. What we truly want to know is how this cybersecurity tool is going to help us jump over those frustrating digital fences. By using a VPN, you can connect to a secure global server in another country or city around the world. Once your VPN connects to one of these servers, your real IP address will be hidden and your device will adopt the IP address of the server that you have connected to.
For example, if you’re in the United States but run into geo-blocking restrictions when you try to access a Sky Sports stream, all you need to do is connect to a server in the UK. Once connected, you’ll notice that you will have access to the Sky Sports streams, and you may even notice that your browser will show ads from the UK rather than ads from the US.
How to Choose the Right VPN
Before you rush off to install the first VPN you can find there are some important factors to consider. First of all, the golden rule is that you should always install premium VPNs on your device. Free VPNs might seem tempting, but they will come with several critical drawbacks that will affect your streaming experience on match day. If you’re using a free VPN, you can expect drawbacks such as slower connection speeds, more ads, less security, fewer global servers to choose from, and even daily data limits.
Not all VPNs have been created equal, and that’s incredibly important to remember. You shouldn’t just choose a VPN because it has an interesting name or an appealing color scheme.
Since you’ll be using your VPN for streaming, your primary concern should be connection speeds and stability. Ideally, you want to find a VPN that specializes in this area, as well as its unblocking capabilities. This will ensure that your stream can run smoothly without any lag, delays, and drops in image quality.
Another important factor is having an excellent selection of global servers to choose from. Since you’ll need your VPN to unblock streams, you need to make sure that several secure servers will allow you to do so.
So, how exactly do I know which VPN is good enough to stream the all-important FIFA World Cup this year? The best way to find out is to read reviews — as many reviews as you can! Many premium VPNs also offer free trials that will allow you to try out the VPN before you invest your money into it. It’s a good idea to try out different VPNs with streams before settling on one.
