FA Cup

The FA Cup Final takes place this weekend with Chelsea facing Leicester City on Saturday, 15 May, at Wembley Stadium in London. Kick-off is at 5:15pm and you can watch the game live on BBC iPlayer and BT Sport in the UK.

The former is a free-to-watch service, so if you’re travelling abroad, you can access BBC iPlayer using a good VPN service, like ExpressVPN. US viewers can watch live coverage of the game on ESPN+, with kick-off starting at 12:15pm ET (New York), or 9:15am PT (Los Angeles).

London’s iconic Webley Stadium will host Saturday’s FA Cup Final, marking the 140th time the oldest football tournament in the world is concluding. There will be 21,000 fans in the stadium, which is the most fans at a football stadium in the UK since the start of the pandemic over a year ago.

In the semi-finals that took place last month, Chelsea pulled off a surprise 1-0 victory over 2021 Premier League Champions Manchester City, thereby squashing their hopes of winning the quadruple this year. Manchester City have won the Carabao Cup and they face Chelsea in the Champions League Final later this month, which should be another mouth-watering contest between the two sides in blue.

In the second semi-final, Leicester City defeated Southampton by a similar margin. The Foxes are The Blues are currently separated by just one place in the Premier League table, with Leicester City pulling off a huge win against Manchester United in the mid-week fixture, which will give them confidence going up against a rejuvenated Chelsea on Saturday.

Given their current form in domestic and international competitions under Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea will obviously start as favourites going into Saturday’s Final. This is Chelsea’s 15th appearance in the FA Cup Final and they have won the trophy on eight occasions.

Meanwhile, Leicester City have reached the FA Cup Final on four previous occasions, the last time dating back to 1964. Although The Foxes have never won the competition, the side have been in great form this season under Brendan Rogers and are on the cusp of securing qualification for next year’s Champions League.

FA Cup Finals: Fixtures, Kickoff time and UK channels

Saturday, 15 May on BBC iPlayer and BT Sport

• Chelsea vs Leicester City at 5:15pm BST

FA Cup Finals: Fixtures, Kickoff time and US channel

Saturday, 15 May on ESPN+

• Chelsea vs Leicester City at 12:15pm ET/9:15am PT

How to watch the FA Cup Final for free in the UK: BBC One and BBC iPlayer

The FA Cup Final will be shown on BBC in the UK. Thankfully, you can watch BBC One and BBC HD for free in the UK, provided you have a valid TV license of course. You can also stream the game on your laptop or mobile devices via the BBC’s online iPlayer service. To do this, you’ll only need to create an account to prove that you have a valid TV license.

Watch FA Cup Final on BBC One

How to watch the FA Cup Final in the UK: BT Sport

Apart from the BBC, the FA Cup Final is also being broadcast simultaneously on BT Sport in the UK. There are a number of ways to watch BT Sport in the UK, but the best option is to sign up for a BT Sport Monthly Pass. For just £25/mth you can watch five exclusive BT Sport channels on any device in HD and stream content on any two devices at the same time. Even better, this does not involve any set fees or long-term contract commitments.

Other BT Sport packages vary depending on whether you’re an existing BT customer or coming from another service provider, such as Sky Sport, TalkTalk and Virgin. Deals also differ based on whether you’re signing up to BT Broadband, in which case you can see the biggest price discounts. Note that all of these deals tie you down to 24-month contracts that are subject to set up fees and early cancellation charges.

Get BT Sport Monthly Pass

How to watch the FA Cup Final in the US: ESPN+

If you live in the US, you can watch the FA Cup Final this weekend live on ESPN+. The service costs $5.99/mnth or $59.99/year, but you can also bundle it with Disney+ and Hulu for $12.99/month. Apart from the FA Cup, ESPN+ also lets you watch live coverage of the PGA Championship, Serie A and Bundesliga.

Subscribe to ESPN+

How to watch the FA Cup Final abroad: use a good VPN service

If you’re out of the country for the FA Cup, don’t worry because you can access BBC iPlayer for free from anywhere in the world using a good VPN service. A VPN bypasses location-blocking software by making your device and apps think you’re browsing from the UK. It’s good practice to use a VPN generally because it keeps your browsing traffic private from everyone, including your ISP. They’re especially useful if you travel often and use public Wi-Fi networks.

READ NEXT: Best VPN services

ExpressVPN: This is our highest-rated VPN because it’s the fastest and most secure one we’ve tested. You can use it on five devices simultaneously and it’s the only service we’re confident will unblock BBC iPlayer, BT Sport and ESPN+ from anywhere in the world. The service has a 30-day moneyback guarantee. Even better, our readers get three months free if you choose the one-year plan, saving you a massive 49%.

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NordVPN shares many features with ExpressVPN, including a strict no-logs policy, multiple simultaneous connections, and a wide range of servers to let you watch the FA Cup regardless of where in the world you are. We like its PC interface that lets you connect to any server in the world using a friendly map-based interface. You can use the service on six devices at the same time and it also comes with a 30-day moneyback guarantee.

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