The 2022 World Cup has already kicked off and provided football fans with some sizzling action. From Germany suffering a shock defeat to some stunning goals from Lionel Messi, the Qatar World Cup is already proving to be one for the history books. If you’re a football fan, you don’t want to miss out on any action from this year’s World Cup, and the matches are coming thick and fast!
The best way to catch the action this year is through World Cup live streams. The only problem is that you might not be able to tune into some of the best World Cup live streams because of geo-blocking. As frustrating as these restrictions might be, they exist for good reason. However, they have left football fans from all over the world in anger as they have been unable to watch their favorite teams go head to head with some of the best footballing nations in the world.
Not to worry though, there is a way that you can bypass these restrictions and tune into the action from anywhere in the world. All you need to do is install a handy cybersecurity tool on your device, and you’re good to go! Keep reading to find out how it all works!
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Finding World Cup Live Streams
So, why exactly is it so difficult to find a good live stream for the biggest event of the entire year? Media companies like ESPN and Sky Sports have streaming services where you can find more reliable high-quality live streams. But these streaming services are expensive, and they’re also subject to geo-blocking restrictions, and here’s why.
Media companies need to pay millions of dollars to secure the broadcasting rights that allow them to live stream World Cup matches. However, these broadcasting rights also come with some strict rules, one of which will prevent them from streaming the matches outside of their approved region or country.
You might be wondering how a streaming website would know that you’re not inside their approved region when accessing their website. Websites will use your IP address to determine your device’s location. An IP address is a unique string of numbers that is used to identify your device on the internet.
Websites use your IP address to send you targeted marketing and advertisements, such as the special deals that your local grocery store is promoting. This is why you’ll always see ads for businesses close to your physical location even if you’re visiting an international website.
You’re Going to Need a Cybersecurity Tool
In theory, then, you can change your device’s virtual location by changing the IP address. It might sound like a difficult and complex process, but it’s incredibly easy. All you need is a cybersecurity tool known as a virtual private network or VPN for short.
The main purpose of a VPN is to encrypt your internet connection, which allows you to browse the internet anonymously. That means no one can monitor your internet traffic or keep track of your internet history — not even the government or your internet service provider! This makes a VPN the best tool you can use for privacy and security online, and it’s especially useful when it comes to using unsecured networks at hotels, airports, and restaurants.
But VPNs have another feature, and that’s the one that we’re after. VPNs have several secure global servers in other countries and cities around the world. When you connect to one of these servers, your real IP address will be masked from any websites that you visit. Your device will then adopt the IP address of the server that you have connected to by routing your internet traffic through the server.
This will trick the website into thinking that you’re accessing it from the country where the VPN server is located. For example, if you’re in Australia but you want to tune into an ESPN live stream, you can fire up your VPN and hook it up to a server in a US city. Doing so will change your device’s IP address from an Australian one to an American one, which will allow you to bypass geo-blocking restrictions and unblock the ESPN live stream.
Finding the Right VPN
It must be said that you can’t just use any VPN on the market to live stream the World Cup this year. The most important rule to follow is that you should always use a premium VPN. It might be tempting to use a free VPN — there are plenty of them — but you’ll run into tons of problems. If you’re using a free VPN you can expect slower connection speeds, intrusive ads, poor security and encryption, fewer global servers to choose from, and daily data limits. If you want the best World Cup streaming experience, always use a free VPN!