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

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.

The FA Cup reaches a milestone this weekend, with the Third Round Proper marking the point at which Premier League and Championship clubs enter the competition.

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+

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

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.

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BBC Third Round Fixtures

Macclesfield vs Crystal Palace (January 10 at 12:15pm)

Tottenham Hotspur vs Aston Villa (January 10 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+

To tune into the FA Cup through ESPN+ 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

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.

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❗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.

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► FA Cup all-time top scorers

FA Cup third round fixtures and TV channels

The third round of the FA Cup takes place this weekend with fixtures from Friday January 9 through to Monday January 12. 64 teams are in the competition, and that figure will be cut in half by the end of the 32 ties as we move towards the fourth round draw.

Macclesfield are the lowest-ranked team left in the competition, currently 15th in National League North, the sixth tier of English football, alongside Weston Super Mare who are second in National League South.

Macclesfield host Premier League opposition in Crystal Palace, in one of two matches televised free-to-air by the BBC, while Weston Super Mare travel to Grimsby.

Tottenham Hotspur vs Aston Villa, the other BBC game, is stand-out all-Premier League clash, alongside Brighton's visit to manager-less Manchester United.

Friday, January 9

Saturday, January 10

Sunday, January 11

Monday, January 12

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