BBC have unveiled their coverage plans for 2022 FIFA World Cup across TV and Radio.
The iconic UK Broadcaster in its centenary year will exclusively broadcast the tournament opener between hosts – Qatar as they face Ecuador on Sunday 20 November, with TV coverage being headed up by Gary Lineker.
Mark Chapman, Gabby Logan and Kelly Cates will also host televised coverage across the tournament, with Cates and Chapman also hosting BBC Radio Five Live coverage of every match when either presenter isn’t leading TV coverage of a game.
Alan Shearer and Alex Scott headline the punditry line-up which will also include; Rio Ferdinand, Jermaine Jenas, Micah Richards, Danny Gabbidon, Ian Rush and Ashley Williams, as the latter three pundits represent Wales, whose games against Iran and England will be live on BBC.
Jenas and Gabbidon will also be amongst co-commentators during the tournament alongside Karen Bardsley, Dion Dublin and Jayne Ludlow amongst notable names.
James Collins, Maz Farookhi, Martin Keown, Clinton Morrison, Danny Murphy, Robbie Savage, Peter Schmeichel and Stephen Warnock will also be on co-commentary duty during the tournament.
Bardsley, Collins, Dublin, Ludlow and Warnock will also serve as co-commentators on radio coverage as will pundits – Shearer and Richards alongside; Izzy Christiansen, Rob Green, Pat Nevin, Chris Sutton and Matthew Upson.
BBC will also be joined by a variety of international pundits across their TV coverage including current Burnley manager, Vincent Kompany, Didier Drogba, Laura Georges, Jurgen Klinsmann, Mark Schwarzer, Gilberto Silva and Pablo Zabaleta.
TV commentary duty will be led by Guy Mowbray and Robyn Cowen, who will be joined by the following commentators throughout the tournament; Steve Wilson, Jonathan Pearce, Steve Bower, Alistair Bruce Ball, Simon Davies, Ian Dennis, Pien Meulensteen, Conor McNamara, John Murray, Mark Scott and Vicki Sparks.
Radio commentary will be headed up by John Murray with Guillem Balagué, Julien Lauren and Tim Vickery providing punditry across national teams from South America, Europe and the rest of the world.
Kelly Sommers and Emma Saunders will lead news reports from within England’s camp across TV and Radio, whilst Catrin Heledd will likewise lead reports on Wales’ camp.
Coverage Across TV, Radio and Online
BBC will televise 33 live matches across BBC One and BBC Two across the tournament, including England’s group opener and closer against Iran and Wales on 21 and 29 November respectively plus other blockbuster ties in the Group Stage, including;
- Brazil vs Serbia (24 November, 7pm)
- Spain v Germany (27 November, 7pm)
- Poland v Argentina (30 November, 7pm)
- Croatia v Belgium (1 December, 3pm)
In the knockouts, BBC will have first-pick of semi-finals plus three games in Round of 16 and two Quarter-Final picks, as well as live coverage of the Grand Final on 18 December.
BBC Radio Five Live will provide coverage of every match whilst there will also be podcasts alongside the return of Match Of The Day: Top 10, where Lineker and pundits will pick out 10 top moments across various categories concerning previous World Cups.
BBC Radio Wales will have special programming across the tournament from Robert Earnshaw’s lookback at 1958 World Cup squad to a documentary looking at how fans have played a part in forming Wales’ famous Red Wall.
BBC One Wales will also run a series of special programming in coming weeks;
- Together Stronger – Lookback at Wales’ journey across last 18 years to qualify for their first World Cup in 64 years.
- Late Night Football Club – Robbie Savage and Polly James will present a chat show talking all things football with various guests.
- Legend of Welsh Sport – Series focusing on icons within Welsh Football with individual episodes covering following stars – Neville Southall, John Toshack, Rob Page
- World Cup Squad Announcement – BBC One Wales wll present a special Match Of The Day edition from Rhondda in which the squad will be officially announced live.
BBC Sport website will also have live streams of all of BBC’s televised games plus live audio commentary of every match throughout the tournament.
Online coverage meanwhile will include vintage videos featuring classic World Cup moments and Chris Sutton’s predictions for each match across the tournament, across various World Cup pieces which will be available on BBC Sport website.
BBC have also announced that all must-see moments plus behind-the-scenes content will be made available across their social media channels, including; Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.
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