The World Cup 2022 third-place play-off is so close, we can almost taste it.
The 63rd of 64 World Cup 2022 fixtures, the third-place play-off is the match no fan wants to see their country play in – even though it means they've probably played pretty well.
Croatia have already qualified for the play-off, after succumbing to 3-0 defeat to Argentina in the semi-final on Tuesday night, and they will play the losers of France and Morocco in Wednesday's semi.
The final will be held at Khalifa International in Al Rayyan, 5km west of central Doha, and holds 45,416 fans.
When is the FIFA World Cup 2022 third-place play-off?
The third-place play-off will take place on Saturday, December 17 2022, with kick-off at 3pm GMT (Qatar: 6pm, CET: 4pm, EST: 10am, PDT: 7am).
World Cup 2022 third-place play-off: Croatia vs Semi-final 2 loser, December 17, 3pm GMT
Best ways to watch the World Cup 2022 third-place play-off
No matter where you are in the world, you'll want to make sure you're sat in front of the best TV for watching football, and don't miss any action because you left it too late to sort out the right streaming subscription.
Both the UK and Australia will be showing the World Cup 2022 final on free-to-air channels, with BBC and ITV having the rights in Britain, and SBS showing it in Australia.
UK: BBC
In the UK, you can get free access to BBC channels on television and on iPlayer just by confirming you have a TV license.
USA Fox are the World Cup rights holders in the States. Games are on Fox or FS1 cable channels.
If you don't have cable, you can use services such Sling and FuboTV to get the Fox channels. You can also watch the games on Peacock TV with Spanish commentary.
Australia
As in the UK, coverage of the World Cup 2022 is entirely free to air. You can watch all 64 games on the SBS TV channel and stream it online too with SBS On Demand.
New Zealand Paid provider Sky Sports are the World Cup 2022 rights holders in New Zealand. You can watch as part of your Sky subscription of pick up a Sky Now TV pass. There is also a 7-day free trial.
Use a VPN to watch World Cup 2022 from outside your country
If you’re out of the country for some or all of the World Cup, then annoyingly your domestic on-demand services won’t work – the broadcaster knows where you are because of your IP address (boo!). You'll be blocked from watching it, which is not ideal if you’ve paid up for a subscription and still want to catch the action without resorting to illegal feeds you’ve found on Reddit.
But assistance is on hand. To get around that, all you have to do is get a Virtual Private Network (VPN), assuming it complies with your broadcaster’s T&Cs. A VPN creates a private connection between your device and t'internet, meaning the service can’t work out where you are and won't automatically block the service you've paid for. All the info going between is entirely encrypted – and that's a result.
There are plenty of good-value options out there, including:
(Image credit: Future)
ExpressVPN including a 30-day, money-back guarantee
FourFourTwo’s brainy office mates TechRadar love its super speedy connections, trustworthy security and the fact it works with Android, Apple, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, PS4 and loads more. You also get a money-back guarantee, 24/7 support and it's currently available for a knockdown price. Go get it!
Best TVs to watch the World Cup on
If you're currently watching the World Cup and want to make the most of the experience (it only comes around once every four years, after all), we've found that some of the best TVs for watching football are also currently on sale in the Black Friday sales:
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Conor Pope is the former Online Editor of FourFourTwo, overseeing all digital content. He plays football regularly, and has a large, discerning and ever-growing collection of football shirts from around the world.
He supports Blackburn Rovers and holds a season ticket with south London non-league side Dulwich Hamlet. His main football passions include Tugay, the San Siro and only using a winter ball when it snows.
