FA Cup TV guide: Broadcasters, live streams, free BBC coverage, and how to watch every fixture in the 2025/2026 competition

Crystal Palace
Which club will see its name etched onto the FA Cup after 2025 winners Crystal Palace? (Image credit: Getty Images)

The world’s oldest club competition is up and running and you can watch the FA Cup all over the planet, with FourFourTwo providing a comprehensive broadcast guide to TV coverage and live streams wherever you are in the world.

FA Cup broadcasters

• UK: BBC, TNT Sports / Discovery+
• US: ESPN+
• Australia: Stan Sport
• Watch from anywhere: Try NordVPN 100% risk free

This is always an occasion to be savoured as some of the sides from the lower divisions and even non-League football are pitted against some of the best teams and players in the world.

Unlike most other football competitions, the FA Cup gets some airing on free-to-air television in the UK, although ITV no longer has any rights and the BBC's coverage has diminished as TNT Sports steps in this season as the main broadcaster.

There are plenty of international options, with ESPN in the US and Stan Sport in Australia showing all games from every round of the FA Cup.

Where to watch the FA Cup in the UK

UK broadcast rights for the 2025/2026 FA Cup are split between TNT Sports / Discovery+ and the BBC.

There has been a change for this season, with a vast reduction in the level of free-to-air coverage of the FA Cup in the UK. ITV has left the stage entirely, while the BBC has been limited to 14 games throughout the competition.

That's because the FA Cup has agreed a new commercial deal with the pay-TV broadcaster TNT Sports and its streaming platform, Discovery+.

Watch the FA Cup on Discovery+

Watch the FA Cup on Discovery+

With the exception of fixtures taking place during the Saturday 3pm blackout, every single FA Cup fixture will be streaming on Discovery+ and a select few will make it to the TNT Sports main TV channels. Discovery+ costs £30.99/month.

Watch the FA Cup on the BBC

Watch the FA Cup on the BBC

The BBC is showing two matches from each round on a non-exclusive basis. These will air on BBC One on TV and on the BBC iPlayer free streaming service.

BBC Fourth Round Fixtures

Hull vs Chelsea (Friday, February 13 at 7:45pm)
Wrexham vs Ipswich (Friday, February 13 at 7:45pm)
Aston Villa vs Newcastle (Saturday, February 14 at 5:45pm)

How to watch the FA Cup in the US

Sports broadcasting giant ESPN is the exclusive US rights-holder for the 2025/2026 FA Cup. Every game from now on is available to stream live through the ESPN+ streaming platform.

Watch the FA Cup on ESPN Select

Watch the FA Cup on ESPN Select

To tune into the FA Cup all you need is an ESPN Select subscription, which costs £12.99/month. ESPN Unlimited will give you added access to the main ESPN networks for $29.99/month.

Coverage is geo-restricted. If you're not in the States right now, you can still access your ESPN+ subscription by using a VPN such as NordVPN.

How to watch the FA Cup in Australia

The FA Cup has a new home Down Under: Stan Sport, which took over Optus Sport from the start of the 2025/2026 season.

Watch the FA Cup on Stan Sport

Watch the FA Cup on Stan Sport

Want every single FA Cup live stream in one place, plus the Premier League and Champions League? At AU$32 per month, Stan Sport is a steal for football fans down under. Just add the Stan Sport package to the base Stan plan and you'll be streaming the action within minutes.

Coverage is geo-restricted. If you're not in Australia right now, you can still access your Stan Sport subscription by using a VPN such as NordVPN.

Watch the FA Cup from anywhere

If you’re overseas when the FA Cup is on, that doesn't mean you have to miss out on the action. Geo-restrictions will apply to major broadcasters but there's a simple way around this: a VPN.

A Virtual Private Network - to give it the full name - is a piece of software that sets your IP address to make it look like your device is still back at home. Assuming it complies with your broadcaster’s T&Cs, you can use a VPN to unblock your streaming services when abroad, and you'll get a host of internet security benefits on top.

There are plenty of good-value options out there, but FourFourTwo’s brainy office mates TechRadar are big fans of NordVPN.

Get 70% off NordVPN

Get 70% off NordVPN

TechRadar love NordVPN’s super speedy connections, trustworthy security and the fact it works with all your devices. You also get a money-back guarantee, 24/7 support and it's currently available for a knockdown price. Back of the net!

FA Cup all-time top scorers

FA Cup fourth round fixtures and TV channels

The third round of the FA Cup takes place this weekend with fixtures from Friday February 13 through to Monday February 16. 32 teams are in the competition, and that figure will be cut in half by the end of the weekend ahead of the 5th round draw on Monday.

Macclesfield remain the lowest-ranked team in the competition, but after their shock victory over Crystal Palace in the last round, they now face Brentford on Monday night.

Hull vs Chelsea could produce another potential "cupset," with the Blues likely to rotate their squad following a busy start to 2026. Salford will be aiming to avoid a heavy defeat at the Etihad against Man City, while Newcastle look to secure back-to-back away wins against Aston Villa.

Other fixtures to watch include Burton vs West Ham, Liverpool vs Brighton, and Arsenal vs Wigan.

Friday, February 13

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Match

Kick-off time

UK

US

Australia

Hull vs Chelsea

19:45 GMT / 14:45 ET

Discovery+/BBC iPlayer

ESPN Select

Stan Sport

Wrexham vs Ipswich

19:45 GMT / 14:45 ET

Discovery+/BBC iPlayer

ESPN Select

Stan Sport

Saturday, February 14

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Match

Kick-off time

UK

US

Australia

Burton vs West Ham

12:15 GMT / 07:15 ET

Discovery+

ESPN Select

Stan Sport

Burnley vs Mansfield

15:00 GMT / 10:00 ET

N/A

ESPN Select

Stan Sport

Man City vs Salford

15:00 GMT / 10:00 ET

N/A

ESPN Select

Stan Sport

Norwich vs West Brom

15:00 GMT / 10:00 ET

N/A

ESPN Select

Stan Sport

Port Vale vs Bristol City

15:00 GMT / 10:00 ET

N/A

ESPN Select

Stan Sport

Southampton vs Leicester

15:00 GMT / 10:00 ET

N/A

ESPN Select

Stan Sport

Aston Villa vs Newcastle

17:45 GMT / 12:45 ET

BBC One & BBC iPlayer (FREE) / TNT Sports 1 & Discovery+

ESPN Select

Stan Sport

Liverpool vs Brighton

20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET

TNT Sports 1 & Discovery+

ESPN Select

Stan Sport

Sunday, February 15

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Match

Kick-off time

UK

US

Australia

Birmingham vs Leeds United

12:00 GMT / 07:00 ET

TNT Sports 3 & Discovery+

ESPN Select

Stan Sport

Grimsby vs Wolves

13:30 GMT / 08:30 ET

TNT Sports 1 & Discovery+

ESPN Select

Stan Sport

Oxford vs Sunderland

14:00 GMT / 09:00 ET

TNT Sports 5 & Discovery+

ESPN Select

Stan Sport

Stoke vs Fulham

14:00 GMT / 09:00 ET

Discovery+

ESPN Select

Stan Sport

Arsenal vs Wigan

16:30 GMT / 11:30 ET

TNT Sports 1 & Discovery+

ESPN Select

Stan Sport

Monday, February 16

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Match

Kick-off time

UK

US

Australia

Macclesfield vs Brentford

19:30 GMT / 14:30 ET

TNT Sports 1 & Discovery+

ESPN Select

Stan Sport

Disclaimer

We recommend VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Hospitality Tickets

Get premium FA Cup tickets HERE with Seat Unique!

Get premium FA Cup tickets HERE with Seat Unique!

Enjoy padded seat hospitality from as little as £18 for FA Cup games this season.

Patrick manages the How To Watch content across FourFourTwo and the other sports publications at Future. He's an NCTJ qualified journalist with a decade of experience in digital sports media. A lifelong Evertonian, he now plies his own footballing trade on the bobbly pitches of the famous Bristol Downs League.

With contributions from

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.