The football World Cup 2010 (South Aftica) is about to start. So what are the best ways to watch the World Cup 2010 games online (for free obviously) in Linux? After a bit of Google-ing, I noticed most websites only support Internet Explorer.
But there are a few ways of watching the World Cup 2010 for free in Linux:
1. SopCast (<-- Ubuntu installation instructions) is probably the recommended way as you can search Google for a local SopCast channel so you can view the World Cup games in your language.
Unfortunately I had to search for an alternative solution because I'm at work and the ports are blocked thus Sopcast doesn't work.
In case you don't know, SopCast can play various TV channels (watch football games, HBO and many more) for free, using the internet. While the default installation doesn't come with too many channels - though there are some sports channels covering the World Cup 2010 already included -, you can search and add other channels.
You can find some SopCast channels sorted by language, quality and more, HERE (includes lots of World Cup channels obviously).
In case you don't know, SopCast can play various TV channels (watch football games, HBO and many more) for free, using the internet. While the default installation doesn't come with too many channels - though there are some sports channels covering the World Cup 2010 already included -, you can search and add other channels.
You can find some SopCast channels sorted by language, quality and more, HERE (includes lots of World Cup channels obviously).
2. A huge list of channels live streaming the World Cup can be found here (it includes SopCast links, media player and so on).
3. Justin.tv. Using justin.tv you can watch the World Cup 2010 football games in your browser (requires Flash) and if we don't count the Flash problems with Linux, it works great! All you have to do is create an account (free) and then search for "world cup 2010". You'll then see lots of channels for watching the World Cup. For instance, here's a channel for watching the Mexic vs. South Africa game. But there are many channels available on Justin.tv, just search for them.
4. Well the World Cup started and a lot of websites for watching the games for free are now down. Fortunately I found one which works great (and great streaming quality): http://www.eurovisionsports.tv/fifaworldcup/
5. Another way to watch the World Cup online, using a browser only is UStream. Here is a World Cup channel - currently playing the first game. This seems to be pretty stable (I'm writing this as the game is ongoing) although the quality is not the best. Still better than nothing.
6. One more website streaming the FIFA World Cup is http://watch-fifa-live.com/watch-fifa-live/ however you must wait for 1 minute until you can see the game (nagging ads).
To make sure you don't miss a game, you can import the World Cup schedule into your Google Calendar and then set email or SMS notifications for the games you don't want to miss. Also check out South Africa 2010 - an application for Windows, Linux and Mac OSX which automatically retrieves the scores, stats and more.
Do you know other ways to watch the 2010 football World Cup in Linux / Ubuntu for free? Share them with us in the comments!
