Watch FIFA World Cup Opening Ceremony Live Online (Free)

by James · November 13, 2022

Watch the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup 2022 starts on Friday 20 November 2022 with the lavish opening ceremony to take place 1 hour before the opening match between Qatar vs Ecuador. Opening ceremonies have become a major tradition before the start of each FIFA World Cup and Qatar has spent over $50 million to organize what could be one of the best opening ceremonies in recent times.

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How to watch FIFA World Cup opening ceremony live online from anywhere in the world?

FIFA has sold broadcast rights in over 140+ territories worldwide. No matter where you are in the world, chances are your local TV channel and their online streaming portal/mobile apps will be covering the FIFA World Cup live. But in some countries the World Cup will be on free channels, while in others it will cost to watch the World Cup. On this page, we guide you through how to watch the FIFA World Cup opening ceremony live online via official sources from anywhere in the world.

Watch the World Cup opening ceremony on BBC iplayer (Completely free)

The BBC and ITV will share the rights to broadcast the World Cup in Great Britain. Both channels are free to broadcast and the opening ceremony and the first match between Qatar vs Ecuador will be on the BBC. The BBC will broadcast the opening ceremony and the opening match on 20 November 2022 on their traditional TV channels as well as via their online platform called “BBC iplayer”.

BBC iPlayer is free to watch for anyone in the UK. However, BBC iplayer is geo-blocked outside of the UK, meaning that if you were to access BBC iplayer from outside the UK, you would get the error message “Content not available outside the UK”.

However, if you could change the ip address of your UK device, you would be able to access both BBC iplayer and also ITV Hub. To achieve that you need VPN and below is a 100% working guide on how to unblock BBC iplayer from anywhere in the world.

Using VPN to unblock BBC iPlayer streams:

1. Buy a VPN account from one of the trusted VPN providers. ExpressVPN and NordVPN are two of the giants in the industry. We actually tested both and we highly recommend ExpressVPN, especially if you get their 1 year plan which comes with an extra 3 months.

2. Once you have purchased your VPN plan, download and install their VPN app that will be provided to you after you complete the registration process.

3. Install the VPN app on the device you want to watch the opening ceremony.

4. Connect to UK IP address in VPN app.

5. Visit the BBC iplayer website in your browser.

6. Create a free account on the BBC iplayer website. In the account creation process they will ask you to enter your UK postal address. Just google any UK postcode and type it in if needed.

7. After creating the account and verifying your email. Click on the iplayer button in the top menu and there you will be able to select BBC 1, BBC 2 and other BBC channels. The World Cup opening ceremony and first match will be on BBC 1.

This is a real-time screenshot taken after unlocking BBC iplayer using ExpressVPN. All you need to do is change your IP to UK, create an account on the BBC iplayer website. Watch unlimited streaming of BBC iplayer from anywhere in the world.

Other options to watch the opening ceremony

Now, BBC iplayer is not the only option to watch opening ceremony and World Cup matches via official sources. We have created guides for many other channels around the world that will help you watch the tournament legally through official sources, but completely free.