The 2014 FIFA World Cup champions are getting ready to defend their title, and fans in their country will be able to follow live coverage of the competition wherever they go via a number of options provided by local networks.
ARD and ZDF, Germany's public TV networks in Germany own exclusive rights to broadcast the competition. Each network will broadcast 32 games throughout the competition, alternating broadcasts per day.
But fans will also have the option to follow the games without needing to turn on their TV sets. Here are their options to follow the 64 games of the FIFA World Cup online or via mobile devices.
World Cup streaming via the official broadcasters
ZDF
ZDF will broadcast 32 games of the World Cup, including Germany's opening game against Mexico and the FIFA World Cup final. This network will make all their 32 matches available online via their website. Matches will be available both live and on-demand for free.
ARD
ARD will be in charge of broadcasting the remaining 32 matches of the FIFA World Cup, according to the agreement reached with ZDF. This network will broadcast the tournament's opening match, along with other top-caliber games such as Portugal vs Spain and England vs Belgium.
All games broadcast by ARD on their website, both live and on-demand. Highlights for every game will be shared as well on their website and via social media on Facebook.
World Cup streaming in English
Neither ZDF nor ARD will offer English-spoken content for the 2018 FIFA World Cup on their channels, website or mobile apps.
World Cup streaming in German
ZDF - The German public network has agreed to broadcast 32 games of the FIFA World Cup thanks to their arrangement with ARD. The German network will stream live all 32 games available on their platform, including Germany's debut in the competition and all of Argentina's first round games. Their website, www.zdf.de/live-tv will offer live and on-demand options for fans to watch the games.
ARD - Their website will also offer coverage for 32 of the tournament's games, including the opening match and some other interesting games featuring Portugal, England and France. Stats and highlights of the competition will also be available via https://www.sportschau.de/fifa-wm-2018/live/ , the official website for ARD's World Cup coverage.
Apps streaming live World Cup games
Sportschau - Available for iOS or Android users, ARD's app will offer the same amount of games as the network's website. Extra content and highlights of every match will be available via this app, as well as through their social media accounts. Fans will also be able to follow the scores for the rest of the games via the app's goal alert feature. Fans will also be able to cast this app's content when connected to a FireTV or AppleTV device. Google Chromecast might be available in time for the World Cup as well.
ZDFmediathek - iOS and Android users will be able to dowload this app if they want to follow all the games broadcast by ZDF on the go. This app is also available for Amazon Kindle users. Full live and on-demand games will be available through this app, with highlights for every game also being published hours after their conclusion.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup Match Streaming Schedule
Please see below for detailed broadcast listings of all 64 World Cup live match broadcasts across all available official platforms in Germany.
