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A pair of teams with World Cup final aspirations meet in what should be one of the best group-stage matches of the tournament on Friday, as Spain takes on Portugal inside Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi.
In the United States, the game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. ET and will be broadcast nationally on Fox (English broadcast) and Telemundo (Spanish broadcast). If you don’t have cable or can’t get to a TV, you can watch the game–and every other World Cup game–live on your computer, phone or streaming device by signing up for one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
In addition to a Netflix-like on-demand streaming library, Hulu also offers a bundle of live TV channels, including both Fox (live in most markets) and Telemundo. You can sign up for “Hulu with Live TV” right here, and you can then watch every World Cup game live on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch the game live, “Hulu with Live TV” also comes with 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials), allowing you to watch any game after it airs.
Fox (live in most markets) and Telemundo are both included in the “Fubo Premier” bundle, which has a channel package that is largely tailored towards international soccer fans. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial right here, and you can then watch any World Cup game live on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the FuboTV app.
If you can’t watch the game live, FuboTV comes with 30 hours of Cloud DVR (with the ability to upgrade to 500 hours), as well as a “72-Hour Lookback” feature, which allows you to watch any World Cup game up to three days after it airs even if you forgot to record it.
Fox (live in select markets), but not Telemundo, is included in the “Sling Blue” package. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial of both, and you can then watch any World Cup game live on your computer via the Sling TV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Sling TV app.
If you can’t watch a game live, you can get 50 hours of cloud DVR storage as an additional add-on.
Preview
Though both of these countries expect to be playing in the final in Moscow next month, it’s hard not to call Spain the favorite–and that’s still the case even after sacking manager Julen Lopetegui just a day before the start of the tournament. They have a collection of some of the best midfielders in the world, they have a strong defense and an elite goalkeeper, and though their June friendlies were a bit underwhelming, they showed what they were capable of with a 6-1 drubbing of Argentina in March.
“At a technical level, Spain is the best national team in the world,” said Portugal forward Bernardo Silva. “That midfield with players from Barcelona and Madrid, obviously they are favorites [on Friday]. The majority of them have won a European Championship or a World Cup.”
Of course, as Portugal showed during their Euro 2016 run, they’re no stranger to overcoming the odds. And besides, whenever you have Cristiano Ronaldo on your side, you’re going to have a chance in any match.
Ultimately, no matter what happens on Friday, both of these teams should advance out of this group and should prove to be a highly difficult out in the knockout stage. But the route to Moscow is likely to be made a bit easier by winning the group, and winning the group becomes a near certainty with a win here.