Watch England v Italy in UHD on iPlayer, not ITV Hub

England are in the final of Euro 2020! Here’s advice on where to watch and stream the game against Italy and how to avoid lag
Image may contain Human Person Sphere Sport Sports Harry Kane Clothing Apparel People Face and Athlete
Frank Augstein/AP/Shutterstock

As well as the excitement and/or trauma of watching their team in a major tournament final for the first time in decades, England fans tuning in for Sunday’s Euro 2020 final will also face the agony of choice. TV or stream? HD or UHD or, shudder, standard definition? BBC or ITV? Here’s our guide to making sure you get the optimum viewing experience.

How to watch the Euros in UHD

Watch it on BBC iPlayer. It’s as simple as that. You can watch England v Italy in glorious ultra-high definition 4K HDR through BBC iPlayer so long as you have a compatible TV and internet connection that can handle the strain (the BBC recommends 24MBit/s for a reliable 4K stream).

If your TV isn’t on the frankly gigantic list of supported devices then there’s a good chance you’ve got a Roku or similar dongle or streaming box that you can use (alas, your Chromecast Ultra won’t work). Again, all the supported devices are on the list. The BBC also has a comprehensive UHD streaming advice page that covers common queries.

If you’re really into ad breaks, Roy Keane’s scowl and the dulcet tones of Sam Matterface and Lee Dixon, then ITV is broadcasting the final in HD on ITV1 HD. And if you were thinking of using ITV Hub, don’t. Not only is ITV Hub extremely glitchy and unreliable – as its Twitter feed shows, the app has had technical issues throughout Euro 2020 – the ITV stream of England v Italy won’t even be in HD. JT

How to avoid lag and streaming delays

Again, watch it on the BBC. England’s semi-final against Denmark was broadcast exclusively on ITV, with many people relying on ITV Hub to watch the match. The service was beset by technical issues, especially during the second half when the stream repeatedly crashed and failed to restart. Dozens of people complained that the ITV Hub app on Apple TV was crashing constantly and only showing pre-roll adverts rather than the game itself.

ITV confirmed it was “experiencing issues” with ITV Hub on Apple TV. Other viewers complained of a lag between the live broadcast and the ITV Hub stream, which in some cases was more than one minute long. Delays and downtime on streams aren’t uncommon and both the BBC and ITV have done a lot of work to improve the reliability of streams ahead of Euro 2020. That said, the BBC’s streams have been consistently more reliable, and higher-quality, than those on ITV Hub.

Another thing to consider if you’re worried about lag is watching in UHD. Your UHD stream could be up to a minute behind the live action. Switch from the BBC UHD stream to watch the build-up on BBC One or BBC One HD through your TV aerial, for example, and you’ll get a good idea of how far behind you are. If you’re worried about streaming lag, especially with UHD, then you’re best bet is to watch the match in HD through your TV aerial. Just like in the good old days. JT

How to get the best match experience

Picture quality and streaming lag are two important considerations, but there’s one more key decision: should you watch the final on BBC One or ITV1? Before the semi-final, there hadn’t been much to split the two broadcasters during the tournament: Guy Mowbray, the BBC’s lead commentator, is a safe, experienced pair of hands, but ITV’s punditry team perhaps had the edge with the genuine insight and actual preparation of Chelsea Women’s manager Emma Hayes blowing the dull cliches of Alan Shearer out of the water. 

However, ITV’s decision to demote the iconic Clive Tyldesley for this tournament in favour of Sam Matterface backfired during England’s semi-final. Although Tyldesley’s pairing with Ally McCoist livened up numerous esoteric group stage clashes, he was sorely missed during the semi-final – with Matterface’s performance not well received by fans at home (unless you like tortured airplane analogies).

ITV is starting its coverage at 6.30pm on the night, the BBC at 6.20pm. Apart from presenters and pundits, you can expect the usual fodder from both channels: stilted interviews with England players about the camaraderie in the camp, numerous references to glorious former failures, a full exploration of Adobe AfterEffects and its text animation capabilities. Ultimately, it comes down to personal choice – but the overwhelming majority of people will watch on the BBC.

It will all be very biased towards England. If you happen to be supporting Italy, it might be worth using a VPN to watch a feed with Italian commentary – the competition is being broadcast by RAI and Sky Italia. AK

More great stories from WIRED

This article was originally published by WIRED UK