Croatia vs Belgium live stream and match preview, Thursday 1 December, 3pm GMT
Croatia vs Belgium live stream and match preview
Looking for a Croatia vs Belgium live stream? We've got you covered. Croatia vs Belgium is free on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK. Brit abroad? Use a VPN to watch World Cup 2022 free from anywhere.
Croatia, the World Cup runners-up four years ago, will advance to the knockout phase if they avoid defeat here.
A draw would not be enough for Belgium: Roberto Martinez's men must win this match to qualify for the last 16.
There could be plenty of twists and turns in what promises to be an intriguing encounter on Thursday.
Kick-off is at 3pm GMT. Make sure you know how to watch World Cup 2022 wherever you are.
Team news
The Croatia squad contains plenty of experience and Zlatko Dalic names an unchanged side for this fixture.
Romelu Lukaku, the main goal threat in this Belgium squad, still isn't fit enough to start on Thursday.
Everton midfielder Amadou Onana will miss out through suspension, too.
Line-ups
Croatia (4-3-3)
Livakovic; Juranovic, Lovren, Gvardiol, Sosa; Modric, Brozovic, Kovacic; Kramaric, Livaja, Perisic
Belgium (3-4-2-1)
Courtois; Dendoncker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen; Meunier, De Bruyne, Witsel, Castagne; Carrasco, Trossard; Mertens
Form
Croatia drew 0-0 with Morocco on matchday one, before thrashing Canada 4-1 last time out.
Belgium kicked off their campaign with a 1-0 victory over Canada, after which they lost 2-0 to Morocco.
Referee
Antony Taylor of England will be the referee for Croatia vs Belgium. You can find out more about the World Cup 2022 referees here.
Stadium
Croatia vs Belgium will be played at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan. Take a look at all of the World Cup 2022 stadiums and see how it ranks.
Players to watch / key battles
Croatia's passing combinations saw them dominate their recent meeting with Croatia, and a midfield trio of Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic should have plenty of possession here.
Belgium must find a way to get Kevin De Bruyne more involved in the game, while they will look to pick out Lukaku in space if he is fit enough to start.
Read more about the full Croatia and Belgium full World Cup 2022 squads.
Group F table
| Team | P | W | L | D | Pts |
| Croatia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Morocco | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Belgium | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Canada | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Kick-off and channel
Croatia vs Belgium kick-off is at 3pm GMT on Thursday 1 December in the UK. The game is free to watch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
In the US, kick-off time is 10am ET / 8am PT. The match will be shown on FOX/FS1 in the US. See below for international broadcast options.
VPN guide
Use a VPN to watch World Cup 2022 football from outside your country
If you’re out of the country for the World Cup 2022, then you won't be able to watch on your domestic streaming service as usual. The broadcaster knows where you are because of your IP address (boo!) and blocks you from watching it. You can use a VPN to get around that, though, without resorting to illegal feeds you’ve found on Reddit.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN), assuming it complies with your broadcaster’s T&Cs, creates a private connection between your device and t'internet, meaning the service can’t work out where you are and will let you watch. And all the info going between is entirely encrypted, anonymous and safe – and that's a result.
There are plenty of good-value options out there. For the World Cup 2022, FourFourTwo currently recommends:
International World Cup 2022 TV rights
UK
All of the games in the UK are either on the BBC or ITV.
- BBC iPlayer (free)
- ITV Hub (free)
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.
- Sling Blue ($20 first month)
- FuboTV (7-day free trial)
- Peacock Premium ($5.99/month)
Canada
TSN is showing every game. You can subscribe for direct streaming or get it as part of your cable package.
- TSN ($19.99/mon or $199.90/year)
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.
- SBS On Demand (free)
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.
- Sky Sport Now ($19.99 / $39.99)
