The BBC has announced that Brazil 2014 will be the first 24/7 World Cup, with the BBC Sport site hosting live and catch-up streams of all BBC TV games throughout the tournament.
As well as broadcasting 31 matches live on TV, viewers will be able to catch up at a time that suits them. Owing to the four hour time difference, the BBC is letting fans who can’t stay up late stream matches from the BBC Sport site.
The streams will remain on the BBC Sport site for the duration of the tournament and beyond, so if England is able to administer a 6-0 drubbing to Germany at any point, fans will be able to relive the glory online.
As is the case with the World Cup Rewind content, coverage will be available online through desktops, laptops, tablets and phones, as well as smart TVs with access to the BBC Sport app.
The look and feel of the BBC Sport site will be virtually identical across all devices. If you’ve got an HTC One (M8), an iPad Mini and Windows laptop, you’ll easily be able to find what you want whatever device you’re using.
When catching up on a game, viewers will be able to skip to key highlights – free kicks, yellow cards and the like – similar to how the Sky Sports Ashes Event Centre app lets you rewind to key points in cricket matches.
In addition to this, the BBC is serving up a 10 minute ‘World Cup breakfast’ highlights reel every morning which will be available on the BBC Sport website, BBC iPlayer (desktop and mobile apps) and the BBC Sport apps on smart TVs.
BBC director of sport Barbara Slater said: “The BBC is the home of big sporting events and it doesn’t get much bigger than the World Cup. Our aim is for this to be the first truly 24/7 World Cup and we will deliver a complete experience for our audience through both traditional and digital platforms.”
As well as the BBC Sport site hosting multiple World Cup streams, fans will also be able to engaged with the BBC via, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+, taking part in online match analysis sessions.
On the BBC Sport site you’ll also be able to vote on key events from games, answering polls such as ‘Was the referee right to award Italy that penalty?’ or ‘Should Player X have been sent off?’ Daily live Q&A will also give viewers the chance to have their say online.
As well as all of this, the BBC will be broadcasting over 160 hours of programming with highlight and match replays on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three and the red button, 24 days of live football on Radio 5 live, all of which is available to rewatch on BBC iPlayer and iPlayer radio.
When watching streams on BBC Sport you’ll also be able to switch between BBC’s TV studio commentary in favour of Radio 5 Live.
Gary Lineker will helm the BBC’s World Cup TV coverage and will be joined by former England captain Rio Ferdinand, France World Cup winner Thierry Henry and AC Milan coach and former Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf.
Crystal Palace manager Tony Pulis and Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper and former USA international Brad Friedel are reporting for duty on Radio 5 live along with Celtic manager and former Northern Ireland midfielder Neil Lennon, who will be appearing across TV and radio.
The 2014 World Cup kicks off in Brazil on Thursday, June 12. The BBC’s first game will be Spain vs Holland on the Friday. The first England game the BBC will show will be on the Saturday, where Roy Hodgson’s team will play against Italy.
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