As the 2006 World Cup is now underway, I thought that an update on my previous World Cup article was needed. I’ve found out a little more information about the availability of this year’s World Cup online.

In most of North America, selected World Cup games are being offered on ESPN360. This is ESPN’s broadband service and will simulcast all the games carried on ESPN or ESPN2. The drawback is that ESPN360 can only be accessed through some Internet providers. This service will stream 52 of this year’s games with pre-game shows and commentary.

I’m not recommending it but Wired.com has a good article about the less legal ways to catch the matches. The legality of this in North America is questionable but unclear.

Download a P2P streaming player from the forum Football Streaming Info, which is stuffed full of links to downloads and tips if you get into technical trouble. TvAnts is a front-runner due to its ease of use — a big plus is that the channel menu is mostly in English, unlike many of the other players which seem to be in Chinese.
Once you have a player installed, a clear and detailed schedule of the day's games and where to view them can be found at BoxtoBox.

Another option is to use BitTorrent in conjunction with a tracker like the recently reopened PirateBay.org to find recorded games. The upside is that there will probably be some that have been recorded in high definition; the downside is that these will obviously not be live.

There are a couple of other interesting sites stressing fan video from the 2006 World Cup. If you aren’t lucky enough to be in Germany, you can get a feel for the action from Lycos, which is offering video clips from fans. CNN has a similar fan site showing photos, emails, and videos sent in by people in Germany.