How to keep watching football now the World Cup is over

Don’t want to give up watching football for another four years? Here are an insider’s tips on where and how to let the sport take over your whole life.

Around the quarterfinals, when I realised there were suddenly fewer than 10 games to go, I came up with what I thought was a brilliant plan. When the World Cup ended I would activate the three months’ free Apple TV subscription I got with my new phone and start following Major League Soccer as a kind of football methadone. The US club competition would be on at the same time of day as the World Cup, I reasoned, and it started back up almost exactly as the World Cup wound down.

I forgot, as I do every four years, that the World Cup schedule does a remarkable job of weaning viewers off the electric high of watching several games of football a day. The cold turkey shock of a whole day without football between the round of 16 and the quarterfinals is about as bad as it gets; the progressively longer gaps between quarters and semis, then semis and final, never end up being as bad as you feared. Life does, in fact, go on.

While it turns out I probably don’t need the MLS after all, it’s nice to know it’s there. And it’s only a matter of weeks before other, arguably better competitions start up again too. If you’re still scratching around for your next football hit, here’s where you can find it.

Sky Sport / Sky Sport Now

Cost: $59.99 a month for Sky Sport Now

What it’s got: Premier League, A-League, some internationals

A Sky Sport Now subscription is exorbitantly expensive (and seems to go up by $5 every year). But unless you’re savvy at sourcing illegal streams, it remains pretty much a prereq for New Zealand sports fans with any interest in watching the rugby, the league, the cricket and to a slightly lesser extent the football (some of which does, in fairness, also end up on the free-to-air Sky Open).

The English Premier League (season starts August 22 NZT) is by far the most popular overseas league in New Zealand, despite matches being on in the middle of the night or early morning here. Unless you’re a hardcore night owl you’ll probably end up consuming the Premier League mostly via highlights, which you can do on YouTube. I also recommend managing a Fantasy Premier League team as an effective way to stay engaged.

The A-League (season starts October 16 for the men, a couple of weeks later for the women) is home to New Zealand’s two big professional clubs, Auckland FC and the Wellington Phoenix. Matches are played at a reasonable hour and if you live in Auckland or Wellington you can also go and watch these teams live (for a minuscule fraction of the price of a World Cup ticket). I personally love the A-League, though it doesn’t appeal to everyone’s tastes. Their loss! 

DAZN

Cost: $14.99 a month (12 month minimum contract)

What it’s got: Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, Fifa+

DAZN (pronounced, sickeningly, “Da Zone”) seems to view itself primarily as a boxing platform, and requires users to navigate past the latest Anthony Joshua fight to get to the football. Once you’re there it offers the reward of Champions League (and Europa and Conference League) matches streaming live on Wednesday through Friday mornings. The main downside: despite the season only running for nine or so months, DAZN requires customers to sign up for a 12-month term (or pay double for a cancel any time plan). (Also, beware of “rogue charges”.)

DAZN is also home to the free Fifa+, which offers a comprehensive archive of old World Cup matches along with live coverage of some of the world’s most esoteric national leagues from countries like Malawi, Macau and New Zealand’s own Dettol National League. Unfortunately these matches are usually filmed on a single AI-operated camera which often makes for a borderline unwatchable viewing experience. Go and watch in person instead!

BeIN Sports

Cost: $14.99 a month

What it’s got: English FA Cup, Carabao Cup and Championship, Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, Scottish Premier League

I traditionally sign up to BeIN Sports in a fit of enthusiasm at the start of the season then cancel my subscription around January or February when I realise I haven’t so much as opened the janky and annoying-to-use app for the last three months. Nevertheless it has the rights to several quality or at least fun leagues that I follow quite closely but never watch, like the Scottish Premier League and English Championship – both home to a handful of New Zealand internationals.

This season the main thing tempting me to resubscribe to BeIN is the Copa Sudamericana, the South American equivalent of the Europa League, and the chance to potentially see New Zealand viral sensation Tim Payne playing for his new Paraguayan club Olimpia.

TVNZ+

Cost: Free

What it’s got: All Whites, Football Ferns, OFC Pro League

Watching the World Cup on TVNZ has been a pleasure and the event pass may go down in my financial history as the best value $44.99 I’ve ever spent. Sadly their other football coverage is fairly sporadic, limited to the occasional All Whites or Football Ferns friendly or the football equivalent of a tree falling in the woods, the OFC Pro League. Or, this Sunday afternoon, a preseason friendly between Auckland FC and Premier League battlers Tottenham Hotspur. At this time of year you have to take what you can get.

Apple TV

Cost: $17.99 a month (includes TV and movies)

What it’s got: MLS

Apple TV’s MLS coverage is very slick and enjoyable to watch, and the football itself is better than many give it credit for. If you’ve loved the novelty of watching football in the middle of the day and want to keep the party going, it might be worth investigating. 

YouTube

Cost: Free

What it’s got: Highlights from just about every league in the world, some live matches (Japanese J-League, Australia Cup)

Low key the only app you really need if you value your sleep schedule and don’t mind consuming football exclusively via highlights – pretty much every major league posts match highlights within 24 hours of the fulltime whistle. If you crave a live football experience, the J-League – which plays in a New Zealand-friendly time zone – streams a couple of live matches a week with English commentary each week on YouTube. Dedicated Phoenix and Auckland FC sickos will fondly remember the thrill of watching late-night Australia Cup matches on YouTube.

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