After nearly four weeks of action in what was a new-look The Hundred, with new team owners, names, jerseys, and the tournament's first-ever player auction, we're down to the final two games of this year's edition: one in the men's competition and one in the women's.

With Trent Rockets featuring in both finals, it'll be interesting to see whether they can become the first team to win both the men's and women's competitions in the same year. That has never happened before! Oh, and remember there's also a combined men's and women's trophy to be awarded.

The final day's action starts with the women's final, as Trent Rockets take on Sunrisers Leeds at 2:15pm BST at Lord's in London. Later, at 6pm BST, Sam Billings' Trent Rockets face Manchester Super Giants in the men's final.

Follow our guide below for where to watch The Hundred 2026 Finals Day live streams online and on TV wherever you are.

Can I watch The Hundred 2026 Finals Day for free?

Cricket fans in the UK are in luck!

The Hundred 2026 final (both men and women), will be shown completely FREE on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.

You'll need a VPN to prevent you from getting geoblocked if you're abroad right now. We recommend NordVPN.

How to watch any The Hundred Finals Day 2026 live streams using a VPN

You won't be able to watch your regular The Hundred 2026 live streams while traveling abroad. The streaming service will spot that you're in a foreign country and block you.

You can use a VPN (virtual private network) to get around this, though. It's a straightforward piece of software that sets your device to appear as if it's in a different country, allowing you to watch any The Hundred 2026 Final live stream from anywhere in the world.

We rate NordVPN as one of the best VPN for streaming sport. It offers a generous 30-day guarantee for all your money back if you're not happy with the service.

How to watch The Hundred Finals Day live streams in the US

In the US, dedicated cricket streaming service Willow TV is the place to watch The Hundred 2026 Finals Day.

If you don't have it as part of your cable package, you can watch Willow's coverage through your choice of Sling TV's Desi Binge Plus or Dakshin Flex plans – starting from $10 per month.

Not in the US right now? Use NordVPN to watch your regular cricket stream.

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How to watch The Hundred Finals Day 2026 live streams in the UK

The two final matches are free-to-air on BBC Two for cable TV loyalists and on BBC iPlayer for cord-cutters.

BBC iPlayer is FREE, but you will need to create an account, have a valid U.K. postcode (e.g. SE1 7PB) and a TV license.

Alternatively, you can watch on Sky Sports, which holds the rights to The Hundred 2026 in the UK, with live coverage of every single game available on Sky Sports Cricket.

Prices start at £24 per month at present for existing subscribers. However, fans can also tune in using a NOW Sports 24-hour pass, which costs £14.99.

Outside the UK right now? Use NordVPN to access your preferred coverage of the cricket.

How to watch The Hundred Finals Day 2026 live streams in India

In India, The Hundred Finals Day is available to watch on the Star Sports Network on TV and online on JioHotstar.

Subscriptions to JioHotstar start from just Rs. 79/month (around $0.85 USD). You can just get an annual package for just Rs. 499 ($5.40 USD).

If you're currently out of India but want to watch a The Hundred 2026 live stream, you'll need to get yourself a VPN, as per the instructions above.

How to watch The Hundred Finals Day 2026 live streams in Australia

In Australia, The Hundred finals are available to watch on Fox Cricket via Foxtel, with live streaming available via Kayo Sports.

Kayo Sports starts at AU$30 per month after a 7-day free trial. Or you can get your first month for AU$1.

Outside Australia right now? Use NordVPN to access your preferred The Hundred 2026 coverage.

The Hundred 2026 Finals Day: FAQs

Preview

In the men’s game, Trent Rockets will take on Manchester Super Giants at Lord’s in London. The story of the night could be Sam Billings, who’s won the last three The Hundred editions as captain of the Oval Invincibles (now MI London).

Well, he’s back in another final, this time as captain of Trent Rockets, who won the title once, in 2022, and finished second-best last year. MSG, on the other hand, will be looking for their maiden title after losing the finals twice, in 2022 and 2023.

The Rockets have been prolific this year, winning six out of eight matches and topping the table to qualify directly for the final. MSG, meanwhile, lost their way midway through the tournament, losing three matches in a row, but ultimately finished second.

They then crushed Sunrisers Leeds in the Eliminator to make it to the final. A lot of credit for this comeback goes to “Tall” Paul Walter’s initiation as an opener, who also scored a blistering 80 in the Eliminator.

Before the men take the field, though, we’ll have crowned the women’s champions. There, Trent Rockets take on defending champions Sunrisers Leeds (earlier Northern Superchargers). Much like the men, the Rockets women also topped the table and will now hope to get their first women’s trophy.

The Rockets women have been even more impressive, losing just one match and currently sitting on a six-match winning streak. But their opponents, Sunrisers Leeds, are also on a five-match winning run after losing three on the bounce early in the tournament. Their stars have been Phoebe Litchfield, the top run-getter, and Deepti Sharma, the top wicket-taker of the tournament so far.

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We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

English football's top two teams resume their rivalry as Arsenal face Man City in the Community Shield 2026, the traditional curtain-raiser to the domestic season.

The annual fixture, which this year takes place at Cardiff's Principality Stadium, features the previous season's Premier League champions face the reigning FA Cup holders. For the first time in 22 years, Arsenal are on the left side of that equation after ending their long wait for a top-flight title, while City had to settle for two domestic trophies, having also beaten the Gunners in the Carabao Cup final.

Arguably the most intriguing storyline comes in midfield, where both teams have made expensive summer additions. Last weekend, Arsenal announced the signing of Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes for £75m, although that price seems like a bargain compared to the £116m City paid Nottingham Forest for Elliot Anderson. Both players could make their competitive debuts here.

Otherwise, the most notable new face is in the dugout, where Enzo Maresca has the unenviable task of following Pep Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium. The Italian knows City well, having coached at the club before departing for successful spells at Leicester and Chelsea, but this is a very different test.

In some ways, the pressure is off Gunners boss Mikel Arteta after he finally lifted the title following three successive second-place finishes, but the Spaniard will be keen to keep the hammer down this season, starting with this clash against City.

Follow our guide below for where to watch Community Shield 2026 live streams from anywhere with a VPN.

How can I watch Community Shield 2026 for free?

Fans of English football in Italy and Poland are in luck as the Community Shield is being shown for FREE in those countries, on Nove TV and TVP Sport, respectively.

The situation is a little trickier if you want English-language commentary, however, there is a way viewers in the US can watch Arsenal vs Man City at no cost.

ESPN Select is showing the game in the States and this is carried by YouTube TV, DirecTV Stream, Hulu+Live TV and Fubo, which all offer free trials.

If you're not in your home country, you can simply use a VPN to access your regular stream. More details below...

Watch Community Shield 2026 live streams from anywhere

You won't be able to watch your regular Community Shield 2026 live streams while travelling abroad. The platform will detect that you're in a foreign country and block you.

You can use a VPN (virtual private network) to get around this, though. It's a straightforward piece of software that sets your device to appear as if it's in a different country, allowing you to stream Arsenal vs Man City from anywhere in the world.

We rate Proton VPN as one of the best VPN for streaming sports. It offers a 30-day guarantee for all your money back if you're not happy with the service.

How to watch Community Shield 2026 in the US

ESPN is showing Community Shield 2026 in the US, with the game live on ESPN Select and Spanish-language coverage on ESPN Deportes.

ESPN Select costs $12.99 a month or £129.99 a year, while ESPN Unlimited rises to $29.99 a month or $299.99 a year.

As mentioned above, fans in the US can access ESPN on OTT streaming platforms including YouTube TV (up to 21-day free trial), DirecTV Stream (5-day free trial), Hulu+Live TV (3-day free trial) and Fubo, all of which offer free trials.

To access your usual streaming service from outside the US, you'll need to download a good VPN, as detailed above.

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How to watch Community Shield 2026 in the UK

Community Shield 2026 is being shown on TNT Sports 1 in the UK, with live streaming available via HBO Max.

To access Arsenal vs Man City coverage, you'll need the TNT Sports subscription, which starts at £25.99 per month. It will enable you to watch the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League, plus at least 52 Premier League matches this season.

Outside the UK for the Community Shield? Use Proton VPN to tune in as if you were back at home.

How to watch Community Shield 2026 in Australia

Community Shield 2026 is available to watch on Stan Sport in Australia, which costs AU$20/month on top of a AU$9.99/month Stan base plan.

Stan Sport is the home of the Premier League Down Under, with live coverage of all 380 matches in the 2026/27 season.

If you're currently spending time in Australia, use a good VPN, as detailed above, to tap into your free Arsenal vs Man City coverage.

What is the Arsenal vs Man City head-to-head?

Arsenal have historically had the edge in this rivalry, which dates back to November 1893, but Man City have beaten the Gunners twice in the past five months: 2-0 in the Carabao Cup final in March, before a 2-1 success in the Premier League four weeks later.

However, the Gunners have won all three meetings in the Community Shield, including a penalty shoot-out triumph three years ago and a 3-0 victory in 2014.

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We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Thanks to its popularity across all time zones around the planet, you can pretty much guarantee that a game of professional cricket is playing somewhere on any given day — from the Australian summer spanning November to January, through to the IPL window of March to May, and then the English season from April to September.

And there really is something for all types of cricket fan. Purists will always favor the gruelling rigor of traditional Test cricket, while the free flowing, six-hitting razzmatazz of T20 franchise cricket has helped to nurture a new generation of enthusiasts.

Looking to tune into a match right now? Follow our guide below for where to watch cricket online from anywhere with a VPN.

Cricket in August

Find your key cricket streams for the month of August, with The Hundred, Australia vs Bangladesh, Sri Lanka vs India and England vs Pakistan headlining the month

How to watch cricket online for free

While a lot of cricket is hidden behind a paywall these days, there is still much that is shown for free in certain regions.

A great example is the mega popular Indian Premier League — more commonly known as the IPL. Every daily game of the two-month tournament is streamed for free on the Cricbuzz website and app (iOS / Android) in select MENA countries such as UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain.

The free-to-air ICC.tv shows every match of ICC events likes World Cups in a wide selection of countries across the planet — from Afghanistan to Vietnam. This list has the countries with free ICC.tv coverage.

In the UK, 16 games of The Hundred are shown on the free-to-air BBC and iPlayer, including the men's and women's finals. County Championship games can largely be streamed on YouTube. And, although most international action is on Sky Sports or TNT Sports, Saudi-backed sports streamer DAZN has recently entered the market with free streams.

Australia continues to put all of their home Tests, ODIs and T20Is on free-to-air TV and the 7plus streaming platform, as well as away Ashes series on 9Now. And if you do end up bumping into a match that's being shown on Foxtel, Kayo Sports offers a 7-day free trial to watch all the action there.

Outside these countries when the cricket's on? Use NordVPN to unlock your free stream from anywhere in the world.

Watch cricket live streams from anywhere

You won't be able to watch your cricket live stream while traveling abroad. The streaming service will spot that you're in a foreign country and block you.

You can use a VPN (virtual private network) to get around this, though. It's a straightforward piece of software that sets your device to appear as if it's in a different country, allowing you to watch your chosen cricket live streams from anywhere in the world.

We rate NordVPN as the best VPN for streaming sport. It offers a 30-day guarantee for all your money back if you're not happy with the service.

Watch cricket live streams in the US

Willow TV / Sling TV: The overwhelming amount of cricket action shown in the US — including ICC World Cup tournaments, the IPL and Ashes Test matches — goes out on the dedicated Willow TV. It's available from a number of cable providers (e.g. Dish, Spectrum, Xfinity, Verizon Fios) or as a standalone service costing $10 per month or $80 for a whole year.

Don't have cable? OTT provider Sling TV includes Willow as part of several plans such as Desi Binge Plus and Dakshin Flex, costing from $10 a month. You don't even need a full Sling plan and you cancel at any time. You can check out your options and sign up on its website.

ESPN app: US sports giant ESPN occasionally has the rights to show cricket, but the matches it shows are few and far between with Willow getting the majority. Recent action has included internationals hosted in the West Indies and New Zealand. To watch online, you'll need a subscription to the ESPN app, starting from $13 a month.

To access your usual streaming services from outside the US, you'll need to download a good VPN, as detailed above.

• Expert TV advice: best OLED TVs for sports fans

Watch cricket live streams in the UK

Sky Sports: Sky Sports subscribers get the majority of cricket in the UK. As well as carrying all of England's men's and women's internationals, it also has the rights to all ICC tournaments until 2031, domestic cricket from the T20 Blast, The Hundred and One Day Cup, and global franchise competitions such as the IPL, CPL, PSL and Lanka Premier League. Not got Sky? Plans with the Sports channels start from £35 a month, or choose a Now Sports Membership for more flexible plans.

TNT Sports: Sky's main pay-for rival, TNT Sports has recently specialized in showing England men's overseas tours — the 2025-26 Ashes in Australia, for example. It has also picked up the rights to show the home games of the India national team. TNT can be added to plans from TV providers like Sky, Virgin Media or EE, or get it online through HBO Max.

BBC & iPlayer (free): Long gone are the days where free-to-air broadcasters have had the rights to show a full summer of cricket. Instead, the BBC is now limited to just 16 games of The Hundred.

DAZN (free for selected events): As it continues to extend its global reach, sports streaming specialist DAZN has now begun to show cricket in the UK — beginning with the Australia vs Bangladesh Test series in 2026, which it streamed absolutely free!

YouTube (free): All cricket counties (with the exception of, at the time of writing, Lancashire) provide a live stream of their County Championship games for free on YouTube.

Outside the UK during the match you want to watch? Use NordVPN to watch the cricket as if you were back at home.

Watch cricket live streams in Australia

Channel 7 & 7Plus (free): Due to Australia's so-called "Anti-siphoning laws", there's a lengthy list of cricket matches that have to be shown on free-to-air TV Down Under. Channel 7 and its 7plus streaming platform have the rights to show most of them, including home Tests, ODIs and T20Is, and World Cup matches featuring the Aussies played in either Australia or New Zealand. Selected Big Bash League (BBL) coverage also goes out on 7.

Nine Network & 9Now (free): Nine pipped 7 to the post to bag the coverage of the next two away Ashes series in 2027 and 2031.

Foxtel / Kayo Sports (free trial): Virtually all cricket that doesn't end up on the above free-to-air avenues ends up on Foxtel channels. If you want to watch online then the alternative is Kayo Sports, which starts at $30 a month and allows new customers to try their first month for just $1 or seven days for free. Tournaments include the IPL, comprehensive BBL coverage, Sheffield Shield, and a host of international matches.

Prime Video (free trial): Amazon entered the cricket market with a splash by landing the rights to show ICC tournaments like the various men's and women's World Cups and biennial World Test Championship final. Anybody new or returning after a while to Prime can get 30 days for free.

Again, you'll need to use a safe, reliable VPN to access these streaming services when traveling outside Australia.

Watch cricket live streams in India

Star Sports / JioHotstar: Star Sports has become the dominant player in the cricket broadcast market in India, and now has the rights to virtually all the major series and tournaments played over the course of each year. IPL is the big daddy in its native India, of course, with JioStar paying a massive amount to secure the rights. It also shows India's home internationals, ICC events, and internationals played by Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.

Subscriptions to JioHotstar start from just Rs. 79 a month (around $0.85 USD). You can just get an annual package for just Rs. 499 ($5.25 USD).

Sony Sports Network: Sony used to be a much bigger player on the cricket broadcast landscape in India, but now has relatively few events to show. India's recent tour to England was an example of one tour it showed, but they are few and far between now.

FanCode: Occasionally the online FanCode manages to acquire rights. It's the place to go, for example, for franchise competitions like the CPL and regional Indian T20 leagues. It gets the odd international Test series, too, like Afghanistan's 2026 tour of India. A monthly pass costs Rs. 199 ($2.10 USD).

Anyone outside of India who wants to watch their home cricket coverage can just pick up a good VPN.

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The 16th editions of the men's and women's FIH Hockey World Cups get underway on August 15, with Belgium and the Netherlands jointly hosting the 2026 tournaments in Wavre and Amstelveen respectively.

Belgium's men's team and the Netherlands' women's team enter as the favourites, with both ranked No.1 in the world and coming off FIH Pro League triumphs. The tournament promises plenty of exciting stick-on-stick action, and we've found the best ways to watch all the matches online, including free streaming options.

Follow our guide below for where to watch FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 live streams.

How to watch FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 for free

Hockey fans in Belgium and the Netherlands are in luck! Every game of the FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 is free-to-air in these countries.

RTL Play and Sporza will be showing all the games for free in Belgium, whereas NOS will do so in the Netherlands.

Viewers in the UK will also be able to watch every England, Scotland and Wales game completely free thanks to the Channel 4 Sport YouTube channel.

Moreover, Wales games are also free-to-air on Welsh-language station S4C, whereas Scotland matches are available without cost on Gaelic-language channel BBC Alba Live streaming for both is available via BBC iPlayer.

If you're from one of these countries but are currently abroad and want to watch a FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 live stream, you can simply use a VPN. More details below...

Watch FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 live streams from anywhere

You won't be able to watch your regular FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 live streams while traveling abroad. The streaming service will spot that you're in a foreign country and block you.

You can use a VPN (virtual private network) to get around this, though. It's a straightforward piece of software that sets your device to appear as if it's in a different country, allowing you to watch any Hockey World Cup 2026 live stream from anywhere in the world.

We rate NordVPN as one of the best VPN for streaming sport. It offers a generous 30-day guarantee for all your money back if you're not happy with the service.

Watch FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 live streams in the US

The best option for watching th FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 is Watch.Hockey. It's carrying all 100 games as part of its World Cup pass, priced at US$44.99.

Additionally, the CBS Sports Network will show all the US women's team matches. If you've cut the cord, you can get this TV channel through a Live TV streaming option, such as YouTube TV (free trial), Hulu+Live TV, Fubo, or DirecTV.

To access your usual streaming service from outside the US, you'll need to download a good VPN, as detailed above.

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Watch FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 live streams in the UK

Like in the US, every single FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 match is available on Watch.Hockey in the UK.

But all the matches involving England, Scotland and Wales are free-to-air, on the Channel 4 Sport YouTube channel.

Moreover, Welsh-language channel S4C and Gaelic-language station BBC Alba will also show Wales and Scotland games for free, respectively, with live streaming available via BBC iPlayer.

Outside the UK during the World Cup? Use NordVPN to watch the tournament as if you were back at home.

Watch FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 live streams in India

In India, the FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 is available to watch on the Star Sports Network on TV and online on JioHotstar.

Subscriptions to JioHotstar start from just Rs. 79/month (around $0.85 USD) for mobile. You can just get an annual package for just Rs. 499 ($5.40 USD).

If you're currently out of India but want to watch a Hockey World Cup 2026 live stream, you'll need to get yourself a VPN, as per the instructions above.

FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 Preview

The men's tournament's most successful team, Pakistan, is making a comeback after failing to qualify in 2023. They’ve won the title a record four times, but not since 1994. Hosts the Netherlands are just behind Pakistan with three championships, but are yet to take gold since 1998 – something they'd like to change.

Co-hosts Belgium ended up as runners-up in 2023, losing 5-4 in the penalty shootout, but the 2018 winners will be confident of going one step further this time, thanks to their current world No.1 ranking and their recent FIH Pro League triumph. But watch out for the Dutch, who are the reigning Olympic gold medallists, and Germany, the defending world champions.

The women's tournament, on the other hand, has been dominated by co-hosts the Netherlands, winning four of the past five editions in a total of nine titles. The Dutch are the reigning Olympic champions here as well and enter the tournament as significant favourites. But with Argentina, Belgium and China all in the mix, the competition should be fierce.

The FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 introduces a new tournament format that does away with the traditional quarter-finals. In the first round, 16 teams will be divided into four groups of four (Pool A, B, C and D), playing three matches each.

The two best teams from each group will be divided into two further groups in the second round, where they'll play two more matches.

The top two teams from each of these second-round groups will progress to the semi-finals, followed by the bronze medal match and the final. The teams eliminated during the first and second rounds will play several matches to decide different 'place' winners.

FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 fixtures and dates

MEN'S POOL STAGE

Saturday, August 15
India vs Wales: 7 a.m. ET / 4 a.m. PT / 12 p.m. BST
Germany vs Malaysia: 8:30 a.m. ET / 5:30 a.m. PT / 1:30 p.m. BST
England vs Pakistan: 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 6 p.m. BST
Belgium vs France: 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. BST

Sunday, August 16
Australia vs Ireland: 5:30 a.m. ET / 2:30 a.m. PT / 10:30 a.m. BST
Spain vs South Africa: 8:30 a.m. ET / 5:30 a.m. PT / 1:30 p.m. BST
Netherlands vs New Zealand: 10 a.m. ET / 7 a.m. PT / 3 p.m. BST
Argentina vs Japan: 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 6 p.m. BST

Monday, August 17
Pakistan vs Wales: 6:30 a.m. ET / 3:30 a.m. PT / 11:30 a.m. BST
France vs Malaysia: 8 a.m. ET / 5 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. BST
India vs England: 9 a.m. ET / 6 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. BST
Germany vs Belgium: 2:30 p.m. ET / 11:30 a.m. PT / 7:30 p.m. BST

Tuesday, August 18
New Zealand vs Japan: 3:30 a.m. ET / 12:30 a.m. PT / 8:30 a.m. BST
Spain vs Australia: 8 a.m. ET / 5 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. BST
Ireland vs South Africa: 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT / 4 p.m. BST
Argentina vs Netherlands: 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT / 5 p.m. BST

Wednesday, August 19
England vs Wales: 6:30 a.m. ET / 3:30 a.m. PT / 11:30 a.m. BST
Pakistan vs India: 9 a.m. ET / 6 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. BST
France vs Germany: 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT / 4 p.m. BST
Belgium vs Malaysia: 2:30 p.m. ET / 11:30 a.m. PT / 7:30 p.m. BST

Thursday, August 20
Australia vs South Africa: 5 a.m. ET / 2 a.m. PT / 10 a.m. BST
New Zealand vs Argentina: 6:30 a.m. ET / 3:30 a.m. PT / 11:30 a.m. BST
Ireland vs Spain: 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT / 4 p.m. BST
Netherlands vs Japan: 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT / 5 p.m. BST

WOMEN'S POOL STAGE

Saturday, August 15
Australia vs Japan: 4 a.m. ET / 1 a.m. PT / 9 a.m. BST
Germany vs Scotland: 5:30 a.m. ET / 2:30 a.m. PT / 10:30 a.m. BST
Netherlands vs Chile: 10 a.m. ET / 7 a.m. PT / 3 p.m. BST
Argentina vs USA: 11:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. PT / 4:30 p.m. BST

Sunday, August 16
England vs South Africa: 4 a.m. ET / 1 a.m. PT / 9 a.m. BST
China vs India: 7 a.m. ET / 4 a.m. PT / 12 p.m. BST
Belgium vs New Zealand: 11:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. PT / 4:30 p.m. BST
Spain vs Ireland: 2:30 p.m. ET / 11:30 a.m. PT / 7:30 p.m. BST

Monday, August 17
Chile vs Japan: 3:30 a.m. ET / 12:30 a.m. PT / 8:30 a.m. BST
USA vs Scotland: 5 a.m. ET / 2 a.m. PT / 10 a.m. BST
Germany vs Argentina: 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT / 4 p.m. BST
Australia vs Netherlands: 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT / 5 p.m. BST

Tuesday, August 18
New Zealand vs Ireland: 5 a.m. ET / 2 a.m. PT / 10 a.m. BST
England vs China: 6:30 a.m. ET / 3:30 a.m. PT / 11:30 a.m. BST
India vs South Africa: 9 a.m. ET / 6 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. BST
Spain vs Belgium: 2:30 p.m. ET / 11:30 a.m. PT / 7:30 p.m. BST

Wednesday, August 19
Chile vs Australia: 3:30 a.m. ET / 12:30 a.m. PT / 8:30 a.m. BST
Argentina vs Scotland: 5 a.m. ET / 2 a.m. PT / 10 a.m. BST
USA vs Germany: 8 a.m. ET / 5 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. BST
Netherlands vs Japan: 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT / 5 p.m. BST

Thursday, August 20
China vs South Africa: 3:30 a.m. ET / 12:30 a.m. PT / 8:30 a.m. BST
New Zealand vs Spain: 8 a.m. ET / 5 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. BST
India vs England: 9 a.m. ET / 6 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. BST
Belgium vs Ireland: 2:30 p.m. ET / 11:30 a.m. PT / 7:30 p.m. BST

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We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

The world's best golfers head to TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, as the FedExCup play-offs get under way at the FedEx St Jude Championship 2026.

This tournament marks the first of three events on successive weekends that will end with the FedExCup champion being crowned at the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia, on Sunday, August 30. Some 69 players will compete at Southwind, but the FedExCup play-offs feature a progressive cut so anyone who sits outside the top 50 won't make it to next weekend's BMW Championship at Bellerive Country Club in St Louis, Missouri.

FedExCup leader Scottie Scheffler headlines the all-star cast in Memphis, but he faces plenty of competition. Matt Fitzpatrick and Cameron Young have enjoyed excellent seasons to sit second and third respectively in the standings, while reigning FedExCup champion Tommy Fleetwood is also involved. Meanwhile, don't count out three-time FedExCup winner Rory McIlroy or experienced Englishman Justin Rose, who won the St Jude last year.

Follow our guide below for where to watch FedEx St Jude Championship 2026 live streams from anywhere with a VPN.

• Watch FedEx St Jude Championship 2026: August 13-16
• US: ESPN / CBS / Golf Channel
• UK: Sky Sports
• AU: Kayo Sports
• Watch anywhere — try NordVPN (100% risk free)

How can I watch FedEx St Jude Championship 2026 for free

The FedEx St Jude Championship 2026 isn't directly available to stream for free, but those in the US can benefit from free trials to catch the action without paying a penny.

In the US, since coverage is shared between ESPN, CBS and the Golf Channel, you can utilise the free trial periods of live TV services such as YouTube TV (up to 21-day free trial), DirecTV Stream (5-day free trial) and Hulu+Live TV (3-day free trial).

Outside your home country at the moment? Use NordVPN to unlock your free stream from anywhere in the world.

Watch FedEx St Jude Championship 2026 live streams from anywhere

You won't be able to watch your regular FedEx St Jude Championship 2026 live streams while travelling abroad. The streaming service will spot that you're in a foreign country and block you.

You can use a VPN (virtual private network) to get around this, though. It's a straightforward piece of software that sets your device to appear as if it's in a different country, allowing you to watch any FedEx St Jude Championship 2026 live stream from anywhere in the world.

We rate NordVPN as one of the best VPNs for streaming sport. It offers a generous 30-day guarantee for all your money back if you're not happy with the service.

Watch FedEx St Jude Championship 2026 live streams in the US

In the US, coverage of the FedEx St Jude Championship 2026 is split between ESPN, CBS and the Golf Channel.

ESPN and ESPN Select has live coverage of the first and second rounds from 9am to 11am ET, with PGA Tour Live – providing coverage of featured groups and holes – on the ESPN App showing all four days.

The Golf Channel will also show four days of the tournament – Rounds 1 and 2 from 2pm until 6pm ET; Round 3 from 1pm to 3pm ET; Round 4 from 12pm to 2pm ET.

CBS, simulcast on Paramount+, has coverage of just the penultimate and final rounds. Round 3 is from 3pm ET and Round 4 from 2pm ET.

ESPN Unlimited carries all ESPN channels, including ESPN Select. It costs $29.99/month or $299.99/year, and you also have the option to bundle it with Disney+ and Hulu for $35.99/month.

You will need to get a Paramount+ Premium ($13.99/month) subscription to access all the simulcast coverage of CBS. Remember, you can get Paramount+ for FREE with a Walmart Plus 30-day trial for $1.

But if you'd like everything in one place, we recommend a live TV service that includes ESPN, the Golf Channel and CBS.

These include FuboTV, YouTube TV, Hulu+Live TV, or the DirecTV Stream MySports Genre Pack. All these offer handy free trials, allowing you to potentially watch the four-day FedEx St Jude Championship for free.

To access your usual streaming service from outside the US, you'll need to download a good VPN, as detailed above.

• Expert TV advice: best OLED TVs for sports fans

Watch FedEx St Jude Championship 2026 live streams in the UK

The FedEx St Jude Championship 2026 is being shown on Sky Sports in the UK.

Coverage of day one begins at 7pm BST on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Golf, with the final three rounds solely on Sky Sports Golf. Friday's coverage begins at 5pm BST, while it starts at 4pm BST on Saturday and Sunday.

Sky Sports packages start at £22 per month for existing Sky subscribers and rise to £35 per month for those without a Sky subscription. Now is the perfect time to purchase, with England's Test series against Pakistan and the Premier League season on the horizon. You could also watch via a NOW Sports membership which carries all of Sky Sports' channels.

Looking to invest in Sky Sports? Check out our dedicated guide to all things Sky.

Outside the UK during the tournament? Use NordVPN to watch the FedEx St Jude Championship 2026 as if you were back at home.

Watch FedEx St Jude Championship 2026 live streams in Australia

In Australia, Fox Sports has live and exclusive coverage of the FedEx St Jude Championship 2026.

If you want to watch online then the best option is Kayo Sports, which starts at AU$29.99 per month. New customers, however, can try the first month of Kayo for just AU$1.

Again, you'll need to use a safe, reliable VPN to access Kayo Sports when traveling abroad.

FedEx St Jude Championship 2026 TV Schedule (US only)

Thursday, August 13

ESPN: From 9 a.m. ET

Golf Channel: From 2 p.m. ET

Friday, August 14

ESPN: From 9:00 a.m. ET

Golf Channel: From 2 p.m. ET

Saturday, August 15

Golf Channel: From 1 p.m. ET

CBS: From 3 p.m. ET

Sunday, August 16

Golf Channel: From 12 p.m. ET

CBS: From 2 p.m. ET

What is the field for the FedEx St Jude Championship 2026?

• Ludvig Åberg
• Akshay Bhatia
• Jacob Bridgeman
• Michael Brennan
• Sam Burns
• Bud Cauley
• Patrick Cantlay
• Ricky Castillo
• Wyndham Clark
• Eric Cole
• Corey Conners
• Pierceson Coody
• Nico Echavarria
• Harris English
• Matt Fitzpatrick
• Alex Fitzpatrick
• Tommy Fleetwood
• Rickie Fowler
• Ryan Fox
• Ryan Gerard
• Chris Gotterup
• Ben Griffin
• Harry Hall
• Brian Harman
• Russell Henley
• Nicolai Højgaard
• Max Homa
• Viktor Hovland
• Ryo Hisatsune
• Sungjae Im
• Michael Kim
• Si Woo Kim
• Tom Kim
• Kurt Kitayama
• Jackson Koivun
• Jake Knapp
• Min Woo Lee
• Shane Lowry
• Robert MacIntyre
• Hideki Matsuyama
• Matt McCarty
• Maverick McNealy
• Rory McIlroy
• Keith Mitchell
• Collin Morikawa
• Alex Noren
• Aldrich Potgieter
• J.T. Poston
• Aaron Rai
• Kristoffer Reitan
• Patrick Rodgers
• Justin Rose
• Matti Schmid
• Xander Schauffele
• Scottie Scheffler
• Adam Scott
• Alex Smalley
• J.J. Spaun
• Jordan Spieth
• Sepp Straka
• Sam Stevens
• Jordan Smith
• Sahith Theegala
• Justin Thomas
• Michael Thorbjornsen
• Sudarshan Yellamaraju
• Cameron Young
• Nick Taylor

Who are the recent FedEx St Jude Championship winners?

2025: Justin Rose
2024: Hideki Matsuyama
2023: Lucas Glover
2022: Will Zalatoris
2021: Tony Finau
2020: Dustin Johnson
2019: Patrick Reed
2018: Bryson DeChambeau
2017: Dustin Johnson
2016: Patrick Reed

What are the FedExCup play-offs events?

• FedEx St Jude Championship (TPC Southwind, Memphis, August 13-16)
• BMW Championship (Bellerive Country Club, St Louis, August 20-23)
• Tour Championship (East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, August 27-30)

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We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Following in the footsteps of other streaming platforms, including Qobuz, Deezer and Tidal, which have all taken measures against AI music, Spotify says that AI-generated artist profiles will see their content labelled with an ‘AI Persona’ badge.

According to Spotify, ‘AI Personas’ will be automatically excluded from editorial and algorithmic recommendations, meaning that users won’t be recommended music flagged as AI-generated, unless they specifically follow labelled accounts.

Artists can already share if their profile represents an AI persona through Spotify for Artists, but the streaming platform says it will not rely solely on self-disclosure. From mid September, the ‘AI Persona’ badge will also appear on accounts that Spotify’s review team suspects represent AI identities.

The review process will take into account names and imagery associated with the account, but, notably, will not consider the method of the music’s creation. According to Spotify: “The badge is about the artist’s public identity, not about how the music was made.”

Once an account has been labelled as an ‘AI Persona’, artists will be notified and given the opportunity to either self-disclose or appeal the decision. Spotify says that in the coming months it will also “give listeners the ability to report artist profiles they believe represent AI personas”.

Spotify has already taken some action against AI music. Last year, the platform removed 75 million AI-generated tracks and features a ‘Verified by Spotify’ badge for human artists as well as an ‘AI Credits’ badge, which allows artists to disclose how AI has been used in their creative process.

According to Spotify, “tens of thousands” of AI Credits are submitted daily.

While it is refreshing to see the world’s largest streaming platform taking action against AI music, the scheme will still allow AI-generated music to be remunerated, meaning that royalties will continue to be allocated to people who aren’t, in the traditional sense, creating the music themselves.

Other platforms have taken more extreme measures. Tidal blocks tracks that are 100 per cent AI-generated from earning any money, while Qobuz has pledged to remove AI music upon detection.

According to Spotify: “AI Persona badges are part of our broader efforts to make Spotify the most transparent and trustworthy place to listen to music.”

Is this latest step enough to secure that goal? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

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If today's UEFA Super Cup 2026 is even a shred as entertaining as PSG's nine-goal double-header with Aston Villa in April 2025's Champions League quarter-final, we're in for a treat.

European football's traditional curtain-raiser may ultimately be a symbolic prize – even if Aston Villa surprise PSG this evening there's no comparison between the Champions League winners and Europa League champions – it's too precious an opportunity to let slip. Continental silverware in a one-off game is not to be sniffed at.

It's also a chance to build momentum for the campaign ahead, something Villa in particular could do with, having parted ways with star players Morgan Rogers and Youri Tielemans in recent weeks.

They have, however, splashed the cash on playmaker Johan Manzambi, who misses out with a knee injury, and sitting midfielder Joao Gomes. PSG, meanwhile, have brought in attacker Maghnes Akliouche and a certain Lucas Digne, formerly of Aston Villa.

Coaches Luis Enrique and Unai Emery have got to know each other well over 12 previous meetings, most famously La Remontada of 2017, in which Enrique's Barcelona scored three goals from the 88th minute onwards to overhaul Emery's PSG in the Champions League last 16.

Follow our guide below for where to watch UEFA Super Cup 2026 live streams from anywhere with a VPN.

UEFA Super Cup 2026 teams

Aston Villa team: Bizot, Cash, Lindelof,Torres, Maatsen, Joao Gomes, Kamara, McGinn, Buendia, Hemmings, Madjo

Subs: Wright, Asemota, Mings, Barkley, Abraham, Nedelkovic, Bogarde, Rowe, Alysson, Cisse, Burrows

PSG team: Safonov, Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Nuno Mendes, Joao Neves, Vitinha, Zaire-Emery, Akliouche, Doue, Kvaratskhelia

Subs: Chevalier, Beraldo, Zabarnyi, Fabian Ruiz, Dembele, Digne, L.Hernandez, Mayulu, Barcola, Ndjantou, Fernandez, Mbaye

How can I watch UEFA Super Cup 2026 for free?

Lucky viewers in Ireland can watch UEFA Super Cup 2026 for free, courtesy of RTÉ Player.

Residents of Belgium (RTL Play) and Turkey (TRT1) will also have access to free services for PSG vs Aston Villa.

If you're you're currently abroad from the Republic of Ireland, Belgium or Turkey, you can simply use a VPN to tap into that free PSG vs Aston Villa coverage. More details below...

Watch UEFA Super Cup 2026 live streams from anywhere

You won't be able to watch your regular UEFA Super Cup 2026 live streams while traveling abroad. The platform will detect that you're in a foreign country and block you.

You can use a VPN (virtual private network) to get around this, though. It's a straightforward piece of software that sets your device to appear as if it's in a different country, allowing you to stream PSG vs Aston Villa from anywhere in the world.

We rate NordVPN as one of the best VPN for streaming sports. It offers a generous 30-day guarantee for all your money back if you're not happy with the service.

How to watch UEFA Super Cup 2026 in the US

Paramount+ ($8.99/month) is showing UEFA Super Cup 2026 in the US. However, you can get the plan with a Walmart Plus 30-day trial for $1.

The PSG vs Aston Villa game is also available to watch on CBS Sports Network, which you can get through a live TV streaming platform, such as YouTube TV, Hulu+Live TV, Fubo, or DirecTV, each of which offers a free trial to new customers.

To access your usual streaming service from outside the US, you'll need to download a good VPN, as detailed above.

• Expert TV advice: best OLED TVs for sports fans
• View the latest TV deals on Amazon

How to watch UEFA Super Cup 2026 in the UK

UEFA Super Cup 2026 is being shown on TNT Sports 1 in the UK, with live streaming available via HBO Max.

To access PSG vs Aston Villa coverage, you'll need the TNT Sports subscription, which starts at £30.99 per month.

Outside the UK for the Super Cup? Use NordVPN to tune in as if you were back at home.

How to watch UEFA Super Cup 2026 in Australia

UEFA Super Cup 2026 is available to watch on Stan Sport in Australia, which costs AU$20/month on top of a AU$9.99/month Stan base plan.

If you're currently spending time in Australia from Ireland, use a good VPN, as detailed above, to tap into your free PSG vs Aston Villa coverage.

What is the PSG vs Aston Villa head-to-head?

PSG and Aston Villa have only met twice before, in a two-legged Champions League quarter-final in April 2025. Each side won one game apiece, but PSG took the tie 5-4 on aggregate.

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We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Though 'purchased' should be in quote marks. Because, as with most digital services that sell movie content, 'purchasing' just means the ability to watch offline. It's really more of a licence to watch – you never really own the content, as this incident shows.

User 'ugoindownsaka1' posted on Reddit when they found that the 'purchased' films had vanished without warning. When they confronted Google via its chat service, their request for a refund or gift card as compensation was declined.

The agent claimed that as the films were purchased in 2022, they were outside of the 120-day refund window. They also said that as the films were now available on YouTube, the customer should contact that service for assistance (despite the fact that they bought the movies from Google Play and that Google owns YouTube).

Unsurprisingly, the backlash was damning.

"This is why physical media matters" was one of the comments we can repeat in a family publication. Others remarked that it's hardly surprising that piracy is on the rise, given that buying a digital version rarely gives you lifelong access – a sentiment summed up by the slogan, "If buying isn't owning, pirating isn't stealing".

This is just the latest case of customers kicking back against digital services. Last year, a lawsuit was filed against Prime Video alleging that its purchase feature was misleading as it was merely a viewing licence. And recently, subscribers to the Premium tier of Disney+ in some European countries lost access to 4K and HDR due to a court case involving the back-end technology that Disney used – 4K has since been restored, but HDR is still lacking.

We don't condone piracy. But we understand the anger people feel at having their digital libraries plundered of content they have paid for. Once again, it just goes to show that you're safer with physical media like a 4K Blu-ray. The quality will be better, too.

We have approached Google for comment.

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A whopping 10 gold medals are being contested on Day 7, the final day of the 2026 European Athletics Championships (Sunday, 16 August): the men's and women's marathons, men's pole vaulyt, women's javelin, women's long jump, mixed 4 x 100m relay, men's steeplechase, women's 1,500m, and the men's and women's 4 x 400m relay.

Mondo Duplantis, Keely Hodgkinson and Jakob Ingebrigtsen are amongst the star attractions at European Athletics Championships 2026 at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. However, all three athletes have shown signs of vulnerability of late.

Duplantis, who's set 15 men's pole vault world records over the past six years and cleaned up at the Olympics, world championships and European championships, was beaten for the first time in three years in June. He was then forced to withdraw from last month's London Diamond League with a thigh problem, finishing second.

Reigning Olympic and European 800m champion Hodgkinson has had her eyes firmly set on the 43-year-old world record throughout 2026, only for Audrey Werro to burst onto the scene. Hodgkinson set a British record in June, but it still wasn't enough to beat the 22-year-old Swiss, who clocked the third-fastest time in history. Werro then comfortably held Hodgkinson off with a dominant performance in Birmingham.

Illnesses, injuries and the legal case against his father and former coach have limited Ingebrigtsen's time in competition, but the two-time Olympic gold medalist opted to defend his European 5,000m title despite last racing a year ago. Incredibly, he won.

Follow our guide below for where to watch European Athletics Championships 2026 live streams from anywhere with a VPN. We've also listed the full Birmingham 2026 medal timetable, schedule and list of EAC events below.

European Athletics Championships Day 5 timetable

(All times BST)

🗓 Day 7 – Sunday, 16 August

🏅 Medal events:

7.30am – Marathon | Women's final

8.10am – Marathon | Men's final

7.30pm – Pole vault | Men's final

7.55pm – Javelin | Women's final

8.05pm – Long jump | Women's final

8.35pm – 4 x 100m relay | Mixed final

8.50pm – 3,000m steeplechase | Men's final

9.13pm – 1,500m | Women's final

9.33pm – 4 x 400m relay | Women's final

9.48pm – 4 x 400m relay | Men's final

How can I watch European Athletics Championships 2026 for free?

Lucky viewers fans in the UK can watch European Athletics Championships 2026 for free, courtesy of BBC iPlayer.

In countries without a dedicated broadcaster, including those in the US, Australia, and Canada, the European Athletics Championships is available for free via Eurovison Sport. Sign up for a free account to watch.

If you're from the UK but you're currently abroad, you can simply use a VPN to tap into that free Birmingham 2026 coverage. More details below...

Watch European Athletics Championships 2026 live streams from anywhere

You won't be able to watch your regular European Athletics Championships 2026 live streams while traveling abroad. The platform will detect that you're in a foreign country and block you.

You can use a VPN (virtual private network) to get around this, though. It's a straightforward piece of software that sets your device to appear as if it's in a different country, allowing you to watch Birmingham 2026 from anywhere in the world.

We rate NordVPN as one of the best VPN for streaming sports. It offers a generous 30-day guarantee for all your money back if you're not happy with the service.

Watch European Athletics Championships 2026 in the US

With no dedicated broadcast partner in the US, the European Athletics Championships will be shown on Eurovison Sport for free.

The US is one of many territories where the service is available. Create an account and off you go – free coverage of European Athletics Championships 2026!

Away on vacation right now? Remember to use a good VPN, as detailed above, to tap into your free Birmingham 2026 stream.

• Expert TV advice: best OLED TVs for sports fans
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Watch European Athletics Championships 2026 live streams in the UK

The 2026 European Athletics Championships are free-to-air in the UK, thanks to BBC One, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.

Just make sure you have a valid TV license.

Comprehensive Birmingham 2026 coverage is available from TNT Sports, with live streaming available via HBO Max. To access it, you'll need the TNT Sports subscription, which starts at £30.99 per month.

Outside the UK for the European Athletics Championships? Use NordVPN to tune in as if you were back at home.

Watch European Athletics Championships 2026 in Australia?

Like in the US, the European Athletics Championships 2026 will be on Eurovison Sport in Australia, in the absence of a dedicated broadcast partner Down Under.

Sign up with a free account and you're good to go.

If you're away on holiday, you can simply use a VPN to tap into that free EAC coverage.

What are the European Athletics Championships 2026 events?

Track

100m

200m

400m

800m

1,500m

5,000m

10,000m

Marathon

100m hurdles

110m hurdles

400m hurdles

3,000m steeplechase

4 × 100m relay

4 × 400m relay

Mixed 4 × 100m relay

Mixed 4 × 400m relay

Half marathon race walk

Marathon race walk

Field

High jump

Pole vault

Long jump

Triple jump

Shot put

Discus

Javelin

Hammer

Combined

Heptathlon

Decathlon

• Fancy an upgrade? Here are the best TVs
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We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

The inaugural Rugby's Greatest Rivalry marks one the most significant events in a generation for two of the sport's most storied sides. Set aside the cheesy branding and you have New Zealand's first tour of South Africa in 30 years.

The All Blacks travel to Pretoria next to face the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld Stadium. Johan Ackermann's men are coming off an excellent campaign that saw them reach the United Rugby Championship grand final. Handre Pollard was their leading points scorer, and Embrose Papier the URC's joint-top try scorer.

After struggling to dispatch the Stormers, New Zealand obliterated the Sharks. Although the Durban outfit was abysmal, things are looking up for Dave Rennie's men.

A gruelling schedule sees the All Blacks play eight games in five weeks, with their fixture list comprising a quartet of fixtures with provincial sides Stormers, Sharks, Bulls and Lions and a quartet of Test matches. Captain Ardie Savea is sitting out some of the early games.

Follow our guide below for where to watch Rugby's Greatest Rivalry 2026 live streams from anywhere with a VPN. We've also listed the full schedule and venues below.

How can I watch Rugby's Greatest Rivalry 2026 for free?

Lucky viewers in the US can watch all eight games of the Rugby's Greatest Rivalry tour for free, plus the women's fixture, courtesy of RugbyPass TV.

In New Zealand, meanwhile, all eight games will be shown on delay later in the day via the free-to-air Three and its ThreeNow streaming platform. Check your listings for the broadcast start times of each match.

If you're from the US but you're currently abroad, you can simply use a VPN to tap into that free Rugby's Greatest Rivalry coverage. More details below...

Watch Rugby's Greatest Rivalry 2026 live streams from anywhere

You won't be able to watch your regular Rugby's Greatest Rivalry 2026 live streams while traveling abroad. The platform will detect that you're in a foreign country and block you.

You can use a VPN (virtual private network) to get around this, though. It's a straightforward piece of software that sets your device to appear as if it's in a different country, allowing you to watch Rugby's Greatest Rivalry from anywhere in the world.

We rate NordVPN as one of the best VPN for streaming sports. It offers a generous 30-day guarantee for all your money back if you're not happy with the service.

How to watch Rugby's Greatest Rivalry 2026 in the US

Rugby's Greatest Rivalry 2026 is free-to-air in its entirety in the US, thanks to RugbyPass TV. All you need to do is register an account.

Outside the US right now? Use NordVPN to access your preferred coverage of the rugby.

• Expert TV advice: best OLED TVs for sports fans
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Watch Rugby's Greatest Rivalry 2026 live streams in the UK

Rugby's Greatest Rivalry 2026 is being shown on Sky Sports in the UK, across its Main Event, Mix and Action channels.

Need the Sky Sports lowdown before you invest? Check out our dedicated guide to all things Sky.

Outside the UK during the tour? Use NordVPN to watch Rugby's Greatest Rivalry as if you were back at home.

Watch Rugby's Greatest Rivalry 2026 live streams in Australia

Rugby's Greatest Rivalry is available to watch on Stan Sport in Australia, which costs AU$20/month on top of a AU$9.99/month Stan base plan.

If you're currently spending time in Australia from the US, use a good VPN, as detailed above, to tap into your free RGR coverage.

Rugby's Greatest Rivalry 2026: Preview

South Africa's back-to-back world champions, led by head coach Rassie Erasmus and captain Siya Kolisi, geared up with a bruising 17-10 victory over Argentina. They top the World Rugby rankings, with New Zealand close behind.

The Kiwis' 1996 vintage went down as "The Incomparables" for securing New Zealand's first-ever series victory on Springbok turf, the triumphant campaign having followed five previous attempts dating back to 1928. South Africa's 1937 victory in New Zealand, incidentally, remains their only series win in All Blacks' territory.

By almost every metric other than matches in New Zealand, these powerhouse rugby nations are remarkable well-matched. They've met six times at World Cups and won three games apiece; the Boks have four world crowns to the All Blacks' three; and on neutral ground – which is where the fourth and final Test of this series will be staged, in Baltimore, USA – they're on four wins each.

The third of the four Tests will also be a double-header, with New Zealand's Women – the Black Ferns – facing South Africa in a one-off match before the men take centre stage in Johannesburg.

Rugby's Greatest Rivalry 2026 schedule

(All times BST)

Friday, 7 August
Stormers 21-38 New Zealand (Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town)

Tuesday, 11 August
Sharks 0-54 New Zealand (Kings Park Stadium, Durban)

Saturday, 15 August
6pm – Bulls vs New Zealand (Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria)

Saturday, 22 August
4.10pm – South Africa vs New Zealand (Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg)

Tuesday, 25 August
6pm – Lions vs New Zealand (Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg)

Saturday, 29 August
4.10pm – South Africa vs New Zealand (Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town)

Saturday, 5 September
12.30pm – South Africa Women vs New Zealand Women (FNB Stadium)
4.10pm – South Africa vs New Zealand (FNB Stadium, Johannesburg)

Saturday, 12 September
10pm – South Africa vs New Zealand (M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, US)

What is the Springboks vs All Blacks head-to-head?

The Springboks have won 43 of their 110 previous encounters with New Zealand. The All Blacks have won 63, and the other four ended in draws.

In South Africa, the head-to-head stands at 28-25-1.

• Fancy an upgrade? Here are the best TVs
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We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

The UK-based streaming service, which launched in 2023 with around 200,000 listed albums, many of which are available in 24-bit/192kHz hi-res audio, is now directly accessible on the entire range of Focal and Naim’s networked streaming products. This includes the Mu-so wireless speaker systems and Uniti all-in-one players, as well as Naim’s dedicated reference streamers.

Similar to the Tidal Connect and Qobuz Connect methods of streaming, users will be able to choose their Naim/Focal streaming product directly from the Presto Music native app and hand over music playback to the connected device, while continuing to use the app (and your smartphone or tablet) without interrupting playback.

As well as music streaming, for which Presto Music employs a more artist-friendly remuneration model than rival platforms such as Spotify, users of the service also have access to written articles and editorial content on the Presto Music app.

According to Paul Buzaa, R&D at Naim & Focal: “Our streaming platform has always been built around delivering the best possible musical experience to our customers. Integrating Presto Music into Focal & Naim streamers gives our community direct access to one of the finest high-resolution classical and jazz catalogues available today – a perfectly suited partnership.”

The collaboration comes as part of Presto Music’s wider integration into audio ecosystems, with the platform already available in products from Eversolo and on BluOS-powered streaming products.

Presto Music is now available via firmware update to streaming products that use the Focal & Naim platform. The company has also confirmed a three-month free trial for Focal & Naim customers, which can be redeemed by clicking on the Presto Music icon within the Focal & Naim app and selecting “Get Presto Music”.

Presto Music subscriptions start at £10.99 per month. For £13.99 per month, users gain access to ‘streaming plus’, which includes free UK shipping of physical products available via Presto Music, as well as 10 per cent off all purchases made through the platform.

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We’ll provide the acronyms, but after that, it’s up to you to tell us exactly what each letter stands for. Do you know your WAV from your WMA? Let’s find out…

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Following a two-game preliminary round, the Carabao Cup 2026/27 kicks off in earnest this long weekend, with a blockbuster tie between Middlesbrough and Wrexham – which is free-to-air on ITVX in the UK – headlining a 35-game slate of first-round fixtures.

A 95th-minute gut-punch denied Boro promotion to the Premier League, and Kim Hellberg has since had to part ways with Everton-bound star man Hayden Hackney. The Red Dragons, meanwhile, have had a quiet summer by their standards after narrowly missing out on a place in the playoffs. They meet on Friday evening.

Elsewhere, Paul Mullin, the erstwhile favourite of Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, could make his Rotherham debut against West Brom on Saturday.

There are five all-Championship ties, including QPR's London derby with Millwall, and West Ham's meeting with Portsmouth, plus eight ties with giant-killing potential. The latter include League Two side Port Vale's encounter with Wolves, who have re-signed Raul Jimenez, plus Kieran Trippier, despite being relegated from the Premier League.

Tonda Eckert has inexplicably managed to cling onto his job despite being unmasked as the architect of Southampton's spying operations, a scandal that hasn't just wrecked the club's image, but got them kicked out of last season's playoffs and landed them a four-point deduction for the new season too. They can expect a lively reception at fourth-tier Colchester United.

And last but not least, arch-rivals Plymouth Argyle and Exeter City will close proceedings with the Devon Derby on Monday night.

Follow our guide below for where to watch Carabao Cup 2026/27 live streams from anywhere with a VPN. We've also listed the first round fixtures and schedule below.

How can I watch Carabao Cup 2026/27 for free?

Lucky viewers in the UK can watch one game from each round of the 2026/27 Carabao Cup for free on ITV1, with live streaming available via ITVX.

For the first round, the fixture that's been selected for free-to-air broadcast is Middlesbrough vs Wrexham.

In the US, select games will be available on free streaming service CBS Sports Golazo. Bristol City vs Walsall and Wolves vs Port Vale are the first-round fixtures picked.

If you're from the UK but you're currently abroad, you can simply use a VPN to tap into that free Carabao Cup coverage. More details below...

Watch Carabao Cup 2026/27 live streams from anywhere

You won't be able to watch your regular Carabao Cup 2026/27 live streams while travelling abroad. The platform will detect that you're in a foreign country and block you.

You can use a VPN (virtual private network) to get around this, though. It's a straightforward piece of software that sets your device to appear as if it's in a different country, allowing you to tune in from anywhere in the world.

We rate NordVPN as one of the best VPN for streaming sports. It offers a generous 30-day guarantee for all your money back if you're not happy with the service.

How to watch Carabao Cup 2026/27 in the US

Paramount+ ($8.99/month) is showing every Carabao Cup 2026/27 fixture in the US. However, you can get the plan with a Walmart Plus 30-day trial for $1.

As we've mentioned above, select matches will be available on free service CBS Sports Golazo. You just need to sign up for an account.

Outside the US right now? Use NordVPN to access your preferred coverage of the soccer.

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Watch Carabao Cup 2026/27 live streams in the UK

Every Carabao Cup 2026/27 game is being shown on Sky Sports in the UK, across its Main Event, Football and Sky Sports+ channels.

Need the Sky Sports lowdown before you invest? Check out our dedicated guide to all things Sky.

However, one game from each round – including the final and a leg of each semi-final – will be free-to-air on ITV1 and ITVX.

Outside the UK during a round of fixtures? Use NordVPN to watch the Carabao Cup as if you were back at home.

Watch Carabao Cup 2026/27 live streams in Australia

beIN Sports shows every Carabao Cup 2026/27 fixture in Australia, with a subscription starting at AU$16.99/month after a 7-day FREE trial.

If you're currently spending time in Australia from the UK, use a good VPN, as detailed above, to tap into your free EFL Cup coverage.

Carabao Cup 2026/27 schedule

(All times BST)

Thursday, 6 August
7.45pm – Bristol City vs Walsall

Friday, 7 August
7.45pm – Wolves vs Port Vale
7.45pm – Wycombe Wanderers vs Stevenage
8pm – Middlesbrough vs Wrexham

Saturday, 8 August
1pm – Cambridge Utd vs Barnet
2pm – QPR vs Millwall
3pm – AFC Wimbledon vs Newport County
3pm – Barnsley vs Wigan Athletic
3pm – Bradford City vs Rochdale
3pm – Bristol Rovers vs Peterborough Utd
3pm – Bromley vs Reading
3pm – Wycombe Wanderers vs Stevenage
3pm – Burnley vs Notts County
3pm – Burton Albion vs Blackburn Rovers
3pm – Cardiff City vs Swindon Town
3pm – Crewe Alexandra vs Accrington Stanley
3pm – Derby County vs Lincoln City
3pm – Fleetwood Town vs Chesterfield
3pm – Gillingham vs Luton Town
3pm – Grimsby Town vs Blackpool
3pm – Leicester City vs Northampton Town
3pm – Leyton Orient vs Oxford United
3pm – Norwich City vs MK Dons
3pm – Preston North End vs Huddersfield Town
3pm – Salford City vs Shrewsbury Town
3pm – Sheffield Wednesday vs Bolton Wanderers
3pm – Stockport County vs Doncaster Rovers
3pm – Stoke City vs Oldham Athletic
3pm – Swansea City vs Birmingham City
3pm – Watford vs Crawley Town
3pm – West Ham vs Portsmouth
5.30pm – Cheltenham Town vs Charlton Athletic
5.30pm – Colchester United vs Southampton
5.30pm – Rotherham Utd vs West Brom

Sunday, 9 August
4pm – Mansfield Town vs Sheffield Utd

Monday, 10 August
8pm – Plymouth Argyle vs Exeter City

Who are the reigning Carabao Cup champions?

Man City beat Arsenal 2-0 in the 2025/26 Carabao Cup final, courtesy of two second-half Nico O'Reilly goals in the space of four minutes.

When is the Carabao Cup 2026/27 final?

The 2026/27 Carabao Cup final is scheduled to take place on Sunday, 21 March, 2027.

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We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

I have long been a devotee of Waits. Ever since I first picked his seminal Rain Dogs album from my father’s CD collection and found myself transported in a haze of shanties and clanking percussion to Singapore, a downtown train, and the inside of a broken clock, I’ve never quite found my way back. He is one of those artists who makes it onto almost every playlist I make.

But for all my adoration, I can recognise that Waits is not for everyone. More than once, I’ve played his gravelly, outlandishly distinctive voice to friends and been met with a look something akin to confused revulsion – maybe even shame, in me and my questionable taste.

But whatever you think of his music, I’m about to make the case that one of Waits’ albums is among the finest ever recorded, at least when it comes to testing a pair of speakers.

Mule Variations was released in 1999, and displays almost the full gamut of Waits’ creative range. Certain of the album’s tracks expand on the industrial, clunky wilderness of his 1992 album, Bone Machine, while others show a tender, poetic songwriter delving deep, to produce ballads of tear jerking sincerity.

The albums themes range from a serial killer’s neighbour speculating on what he’s doing in there, to religious commercialisation and the freedoms and ills of homelessness. Most significantly, in this instance, the stylistic variance of the album is as broad as the thematic.

So, let’s take a closer look at a few choice songs, and what they might be able to tell you about your speakers.

To begin at the beginning, Big In Japan, the album’s opening track, throws us straight into the deep end, with a distorted sample of Waits vocalising over booming percussion played on the rusted petrol tank of a truck. Yes, really.

With a production style that veers further towards pop music than any other song on the album, the punchy brass, distorted guitar, and warbling drums of Big In Japan are sure to test the rhythmic acuity of your system, especially in situations with a lot of loose, reverberant low-end thrown into the mix.

Two tracks later, Hold On, occupies a seismically different space. With a more traditional, country music sound and clean vocal processing, this track tells the story of someone reminiscing about their long lost love.

Whenever I am testing a pair of speakers, I find myself glad of the warm, paired-back arrangement of Hold On, principally because it shines a light on a system’s handling of subtle dynamic shifts, which are a crucial component of an overall sense of emotion. If I can come away from Hold On without choking up a little, then I can be sure the speakers aren’t telling me everything I need to know.

There are also some interesting spatial features on Mule Variations. Chocolate Jesus, for instance, was recorded outside, in a completely anechoic setting. As such, this track is an informative listen in terms of understanding the impact that the room is having on the speakers you are listening to.

Fortunately, our What Hi-Fi? test rooms have all been acoustically treated, so they don’t contribute much in the way of a sonic signature, but no room is perfect and this song will highlight the sound of the space you are listening in. Another benefit of the song’s al fresco recording environment, is that instruments should feel placeable to a pin-point if your speakers are set up for optimal stereo imaging.

One of the more devastating songs on the album – and in Waits’ entire discography, for that matter – is Georgia Lee, a piano led ballad telling the tragic story of the 1997 murder of Georgia Lee Moses, a 12-year-old girl from California.

The piano and bass in Georgia Lee should land with gentle, but impactful weight, while the piano, in particular, ought to allow your speakers’ midrange to prove its worth. This track should feel rich and warm, but without sacrificing the subtle ebbs in dynamics that make all the difference to its emotional fluency.

Whether you are streaming, listening on vinyl, CD or over the radio, there are certain common traits to each of the songs on Mule Variations that should go uncompromised. For evaluating high frequency detail, the raspy nature of Waits’ vocal throughout the album will put your tweeters to the task, while the band should sound punchy and engaged, even in the midst of their most tender moments.

Not only is Mule Variations an excellent entry point for those who haven’t yet explored Waits’ discography, showcasing the full breadth of one of alternative music’s most eccentric and sensitive songwriters, but it is, for all of the above reasons, a prime crash course for testing speakers. If you’re a Waits fan looking to put your new system to the test, give Mule Variations a whirl.

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Following a court ruling, the streaming service was forced to pull its 4K and HDR features in some European countries. It has now started using alternative technology to bring back 4K, though HDR is still missing.

However, the new technology – reported to be the VP9 codec, though Disney wouldn't confirm this to us – is only available on Android TV devices (including select models from Google, Philips, Sony and more), Fire TV devices, LG TVs from 2020 onwards, Sky Stream and Sky Glass.

This means Disney+ can't be watched in 4K on the Apple TV 4K, Samsung TVs and game consoles in the affected areas.

Disney says it plans "to increase device support in the future."

The issue only affects Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and Sweden. Disney+ continues to work as normal in all other countries where it's available, as Disney has continued to use its existing technology to deliver 4K and HDR in these regions.

But while 4K might be back on the menu, HDR still isn't available in the countries listed above. While Disney says it's working hard to rectify this, it can't say when it will return.

This only affects customers in the above countries on the Premium tier. They can contact Disney for a partial refund for their billing period. If you get Disney+ Premium through a third party (like the App Store), you're advised to contact the third party for options.

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The one ray of sunshine (not more sunshine) amidst what has felt like apocalyptic levels of heat and drought has been the fact that it’s too hot to go outside and pretend to be productive. Staying indoors is a far safer bet, and what better way to cool off than to slump down onto your couch, fire up your hi-fi and let those breezy tunes wash over you?

So many cooling artists to stick on as you lie back and imagine that you’re anywhere other than the blisteringly hot sweat box that has become your home. Ice Cube. Ice-T. Snow Patrol. Coldplay. Arctic Monkeys. Oasis.

None of whom feature below.

Gom Jabbar by Hans Zimmer

Movie soundtracks are my go-to for testing, and one of the standout scores comes from the Dune franchise. Not the bizarre release from 1984, but rather Denis Villeneuve’s version starring Timothée Chalamet.

There are almost too many tracks to choose from in both films, as maestro Hans Zimmer delivers an otherworldly score filled with choral chants and brooding strings.

When the cloaked Bene Geserit order Chalamet’s Paul Atreides to do the deadly gom jabbar test in the first movie, the soundtrack begins with an ethereal high-pitched note akin to sand falling. This builds gradually as poor Paul is subject to a painful challenge, letting you test a product’s handling of dynamics.

That grows to a jaw-dropping crescendo as a soaring vocal solo pierces the score, and a guitar adds an energetic zing. Whether you are watching it as part of the film or listening to the track on its own, this is a great test of your audio system.

Words by Robyn Quick

Catapult by Counting Crows

As it starts, with mellotron flutes, you get little sense of the song’s direction in the first 20 seconds. Once the intro gives way to gritty, driven guitars, however, you get a clearer sense of things to come.

Catapult is the debut track on Counting Crows’ second album, Recovering The Satellites, which saw the band reach number one on the Billboard 200 album chart for the first time.

Cheesy? Perhaps just a touch, but it’s hard to find fault with a track that draws from the very best of classic rock and country guitar arrangements while balancing them with lyrics that are at once sincere, cathartic, and frankly, fairly bleak. The vocal melody, which jumps up abruptly, allows singer Adam Duritz to really let rip, making the lyrics’ emotion almost entirely unavoidable.

Catapult’s foremost strength, though, lies in the subtleties of the song’s arrangement, which builds almost imperceptibly toward a final verse in which every band member is going hell for leather. Between Duritz’s impressive vocals, guitars smashed through wah-pedals, and drums with a percussive force to rival Dave Grohl in Nirvana’s heyday, this song reaches an impressive emotive height.

It is a great test of any system’s ability to convey dynamics during dense, bright arrangements.

Words by Ioan Hazell

Higher Ground by Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder seems like a lovely fella. He’s always smiling, has a keen social conscience, and his music tends to be so upbeat and optimistic that it often feels as though it could lift you up into the clouds themselves.

Isn’t She Lovely, You Are the Sunshine of My Life, Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours); the man’s basically a walking, singing anti-depressant. God bless ya, Stevie.

Lovely chap he might be, but a slice of Mr Wonder can be sadistic torture for your hi-fi system. Stevie’s songs are never overly complex or experimental in the way that, say, a Brahms orchestral suite might be, but they contain so much verve and panache that lesser setups can simply fail to capture the magic of the man’s irrepressible talent.

Higher Ground is case in point. With its bouncy, almost squelchy bassline boinging away underneath, it’s one of Wonder’s most effusive tunes, ripping forward with a relentless momentum that – if reproduced correctly – should never let up for a second.

Higher Ground is all about progress, of working tirelessly to reach a better place – if your hi-fi isn’t communicating that feeling of striving to reach that titular ‘Higher Ground’, then something’s gone amiss.

Words by Harry McKerrell

Silvera by Gojira

Bands like Gojira don’t really work through poor systems. For the uninitiated, the French heavy metallers have slowly but surely been creeping their into the collective cultural consciousness since their formation in the late 1990s, with more recent releases, including 2016’s Magma and 2021’s Fortitude, seeing the group really begin to captain mainstream attention.

There’s a wealth of enjoyable riffage to choose from across Gojira’s healthy back catalogue, especially if you’re into relentlessly thudding riffs and the sort of wall-of-sound heaviness that often sounds as though the band are trying to dislodge most of your internal organs.

Lots of treats from which to choose, then, but Silvera is a pretty safe bet for newbies dipping their toe in these stormy yet enticing waters. Again, the band’s signature machine-gun style of guitar riffage is front and centre, supported by equally thunderous drums beneath and lead singer Joe Duplantier’s raucous, call-to-arms roaring.

What an alarm clock the man would make. “Stop moaning about fate and change / stand up on your feet and rise,” he sings, followed by “A rain of shame that fills the mines / no other blood in me but mine”.

Whether interpreted as a charge to call on your inner strength or, as some have suggested, a polemic espousing Duplantier’s passionate veganism (that blood line would make sense), the effect is breathtaking if you have a system capable of handling it.

Words by Harry McKerrell

Love Bombs by Bloc Party

This track is described by Bloc Party’s frontman Kele Okereke as “the sound of a new love flowering, in beautiful romantic gestures”. It’s also more than a little creepy, as the lyrics switch from romantic cliches to deranged acts of obsession.

But there’s no doubting that it’s a banger, as you would expect from legendary producer Trevor Horn, whose work with The Pet Shop Boys and Grace Jones led him to be known as “the man who invented the eighties”.

The reverb that echoes most of the way through the track will test your system’s spatial abilities, while the grinding bassline that kicks in at the chorus will prove a suitable workout for your set-up’s low end.

Listen to the lyrics after the first chorus, and you’ll notice something: not only has the reverb that opened the track fallen away, but the vocals have gained a strange echo that sounds not unlike something slightly monstrous.

As we say, creepy. But then the path to true love etc.

Words by Joe Svetlik

Troy by Ludwig Goransson

I might be the only man left in the entire Western hemisphere who hasn't seen Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey yet.

I wrote last month that I was relishing the chance to see this latest take on Homer’s timeless epic, not only because it’s the cinematic event of the year, but because Nolan has enlisted the services of composer Ludwig Göransson to score his particular twist on the tale of Odysseus attempting to make his way home to craggy Ithaca and his wife, Anne Hathaway.

For now, immersing myself in Göransson’s score will have to do. Jonathan Ross perceptively put it to Christopher Nolan in a recent interview that Göransson’s work is “kinetic and emotionally immediate”. And that’s what you feel when listening to his accompanying Odyssey score – so much so that you can feel as though you have experienced so much of the movie’s emotional heft without stepping foot inside your local cinema.

Nowhere is that more apparent than the track Troy. Again, I haven’t yet watched the movie itself, but if you know the story of the fall of Troy (or indeed, anything at all), you’ll probably be aware that the Greeks weren’t there to bring the Trojans a new houseplant and their recipe for a nice Victoria sponge.

What has struck me so fiercely about Troy is how Göransson plays with space and dimensionality. Haunting voices seem to shout from the far recesses of the composition, perhaps imitating the coded signals of the Greek warriors as they attempt ingress into that shining city, echoing eerily like the cursed calls of the dead.

Metallic clanks flit and scatter. Ominous gongs are struck with menace. Drums sound in the darkness as those eerie voices echo and wail above, building from an atonal, arrhythmic melange to a pounding, anxiety-ridden cacophony.

For now, Troy sounds like an absolute nightmare in all the best ways. Whatever’s happening on screen, I doubt it’s much of a picnic… for the Trojans, at least.

Words by Harry McKerrell

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The partnership will employ Deezer’s white-label music-streaming technology and global music catalogue to power a new premium music subscription service, which will be integrated into the upgraded Winamp Player.

Although the service will be a paid subscription, Winamp says it will deliver “a fundamentally different experience from today’s traditional digital streaming platforms, reimagining both the listening experience and the subscription model.”

Scheduled for release in the first half of 2027, the player will not be limited to streaming and will also give users access to local music libraries, internet radio stations, podcasts, personal cloud-based collections and other audio sources.

Staying true to the original version, the new player will keep its customizable interface – 90s kids, rejoice!

First released in 1997, the original Winamp media player was known for its customisation options, which included skins for the user interface. The media player’s visualiser, which created real-time, music-reactive graphics, was yet more renowned and has since become a hallmark of early 2000s music culture.

According to Alexandre Saboundijan, CEO of Winamp Group: “Winamp has always been about giving users the freedom to experience music their own way. Twenty-five years ago we changed the way people listened to digital music, and we believe the time has come to challenge the listening experience once again.”

The new Winamp Player is expected to launch in the first half of 2027. No pricing has yet been announced.

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The Disney+ Premium subscription just got a lot worse in certain countries. The service has removed access to 4K and HDR in some European countries, FlatpanelsHD reports.

Previously, Disney also removed support for Dolby Vision and 3D over a patent dispute before restoring both.

The loss of 4K and HDR is due to a court case, Disney claims, and it describes the move as “temporary”. However, there’s no word on when access will be restored, or whether those affected will receive compensation.

Like with the Dolby Vision and 3D issue previously, it mostly affects Nordic countries. We have confirmed on our own Disney+ Premium subscription that UK viewers are not affected.

“Following a recent court ruling affecting the technology we use to deliver 4K UHD and HDR, we have temporarily removed support for 4K UHD and HDR on Disney+,” The Walt Disney Company Nordic & Baltic told Flatpanels. “We are disappointed and share our customers’ frustration. We are working hard to restore support as quickly as possible.”

This leaves Premium subscribers in the affected regions paying for features that they cannot access.

In the UK, Disney+ Premium costs £14.99 a month, compared with £9.99 for the Standard tier.

Disney hasn’t disclosed the exact details concerning the court ruling in question. The removal of Dolby Vision and 3D was related to a decision by the Unified Patent Court (UPC) in Europe following a patent dispute involving US-based company InterDigital.

It’s yet another reminder that streaming customers are beholden to the vagaries and legal quandaries facing the companies providing the service. We’ve never heard of a Blu-ray disc being downgraded after purchase.

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Both current devices are getting on a bit now – the Apple TV 4K launched in 2022, while the HomePod Mini made its debut all the way back in 2020.

While the rumour says we won’t get any design changes, the chips inside each will be upgraded. The Apple TV 4K runs on the A15 Bionic (the same processor as the iPhone 13), while the HomePod Mini runs an S5 (also found in the Apple Watch Series 5).

Newer processors should speed up both devices, as well as adding more features and capabilities.

The report also mentions Apple’s new smart home hub, which should launch between October and the start of next year. There are apparently two models in development, one with a screen attached to a half-dome base, the other which is fixed to a wall with magnets.

It could well be the HomePod with a screen that was rumoured years ago.

Facial recognition is said to be a key feature. The device will recognise who’s looking at it, unlock personal content for them (their own personal calendar, for example) and alter the font size and type of information in real time.

We’ve been hankering after a new Apple TV 4K for years now. Top of our wish list? More processing power. Let’s hope our prayers are answered this autumn.

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The most notable recent addition to the gang is HBO Max, which made its long-awaited journey across the pond in March this year. It offers a selection of sumptuous film and TV offerings, including The Pitt, House of the Dragon and One Battle After Another.

Apart from wanting to binge all this tempting content, there’s another reason I am excited that HBO Max has launched in the UK – its accessibility features.

In the US iteration of the platform, HBO Max offers a variety of films and TV shows with on-screen ASL (American Sign Language) translation. Those include the likes of Barbie, Wuthering Heights and The Pitt.

It also released Sinners in BASL (Black American Sign Language), making it the first major streaming platform to stream a film interpreted in the dialect. It is far from the only streaming service to offer signed translation, but HBO Max takes a more tailored approach than most, by casting interpreters who match the character’s identity.

Why does sign language matter?

“So what’s the point of having sign language if you already have subtitles?”, you might be asking.

We spoke to Natasha Robinson, Inclusion Policy Advisor at RNID (Royal National Institute for Deaf People), to understand why this is not the case. She says that BSL (British Sign Language) is “a distinct language with its own grammar, structure and visual cues that convey meaning, emotion and tone.”

Robinson continues: “Some deaf BSL users may struggle to follow subtitles, especially when speech and sound are very fast or complicated.” She adds that streaming services should offer both BSL interpretation and subtitles wherever possible to give “the deaf community greater choice and access”.

In the UK, major streaming services with more than 500,000 users (also called Tier 1) will soon have to make sure that five per cent of their content is signed.

The full Access Code is still under consultation but, once it is in place, Tier 1 platforms will have four years to meet the quota. And, with HBO Max estimating six million users by the end of the year, the streaming service will most likely be included in that group.

Playing the waiting game

At the moment, HBO Max offers ASL only in the US; a BSL (British Sign Language) catalogue is yet to be released.

We asked HBO Max about its plans, and a representative told us it is working through accessibility offering and requirements with various UK regulators and bodies “to seek guidance on best practice and the best way to work with and support the deaf community”.

That certainly sounds promising. But, while the upcoming legislation is a great start, there is still a long way to go. Robinson says that the five per cent target should be seen as a starting point and that streaming platforms “should aim to make as much content as possible fully accessible”.

Robinson adds: “As everyone has different preferences, it is important that services offer a wide range of accessible content.”

It’s not yet clear when HBO Max’s BSL content will be released. But if it offers the same tailored approach as its US counterpart, then it could be a key player for streaming accessibility.

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The sci-fi series is set in the 1980s, with plenty of nostalgic touch points such as Ghostbusters costumes, walkie talkies and Dungeons And Dragons. So making the first series look like a VHS from the period is very on brand.

As the show’s creators point out, this is how it would have looked had it been released when it's set.

“If Stranger Things existed in Hawkins, sitting on a shelf at Family Video, it would look just like this – complete with pan-and-scan,” the Duffer Brothers said in a statement. “And hey, if enough of you nerds watch it, maybe we’ll do the rest of the seasons.”

Pan and scan is a technique used to squash a widescreen picture into the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio seen on CRT TVs of the period. It involves cropping the left and right edges and panning across the image if something of note occurs within the cropped parts of the frame.

For any younger viewers, it’s a chance to see what we had to put up with in the olden days.

The VHS-style treatment will of course involve black bars either side of your widescreen TV, and the picture will look softer and blurrier than a modern image – expect this effect to be highlighted by the sharper image quality possible on modern TVs. But it’s all in the name of authenticity.

The series was re-released in this format to celebrate the show’s 10th anniversary. And as the Duffer Brothers say, if it proves popular, its subsequent seasons might get the same treatment.

To watch, head to the series landing page or search Netflix for “Stranger Things VHS”.

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Find out as we show you how to watch Hungarian Grand Prix live streams for free from anywhere in the world.

Hungarian Grand Prix 2026 free stream

Austria: ORF On (FREE)
Luxembourg: RTL Play (FREE)
Belgium: RTBF Auvio (FREE)
Blocked? Watch your Hungarian GP stream with a VPN

Hungarian Grand Prix 2026 Schedule

(All times BST)

Sunday, 26th July
2pm – Hungarian Grand Prix

Hungarian Grand Prix 2026 Preview

This is Norris' first pole position of the season, and he was also the most recent winner in Mogyorod. However, the Hungaroring always has a surprise up its sleeve.

None of the past five Hungarian Grand Prix pole-sitters went on to win the race, while the karting-style track was also the site of Piastri, Esteban Ocon, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso's maiden F1 victories. Could Isack Hadjar, Arvid Lindblad or Oliver Bearman be next in line?

Hamilton, who has also been given a three-place grid penalty, was the last driver to convert pole to victory here, way back in 2020. Since then, Leclerc, Norris, Russell and Hamilton – twice – have tried and failed to lead the Hungarian GP from gun to tape.

Last year's edition of the race was a thriller, which ended with Piastri crossing the line 0.698 seconds behind his teammate Norris. Despite heading up the grid, Leclerc didn't even make the podium. This weekend could pan out very differently, however.

Due to the high-speed nature of the tracks, Ferrari hadn't expected much from the past two races at Silverstone and Spa, only for Leclerc to come away with 43 points and Hamilton to leapfrog Russell in the standings. The high-downforce Hungaroring, however, should be much more their speed.

McLaren, Racing Bulls and Aston Martin, meanwhile, are each set to unleash a raft of major upgrades.

Below we'll show you how to watch Hungarian Grand Prix live streams from anywhere in the world.

Watch Hungarian Grand Prix 2026 live from anywhere

Most F1 live streams are location-sensitive, which means you won't be able to access your preferred coverage when travelling abroad. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a straightforward but powerful app that lets you alter your virtual location and thus unblock any Hungarian GP stream – including the free coverage in Austria, Luxembourg and Belgium.

NordVPN is our pick of the best VPN services. It's affordable, fast, stable and easy to use. Try it risk-free for 30 days and see for yourself.

How to use a VPN for any Hungarian GP live stream

1. Sign up to the VPN of your choice. NordVPN is the one we recommend.

2. Open the VPN app and choose the location of the service you wish to access. For the F1, you may wish to choose Austria for Servus TV.

3. Head over to ORF On on your browser or device and enjoy the free Hungarian Grand Prix live stream.

How to watch Hungarian Grand Prix 2026 in 4K Ultra HD in the UK

In the UK, you can watch the Hungarian Grand Prix, along with every F1 race, in 4K via Sky Q, Sky Glass and Sky Stream packs. You'll need to subscribe to an Ultra HD package and have a 4K TV.

Head over to the Sky Sports F1 Ultra HD channel to watch every race, qualifying and practice in 4K and HDR.

Need Sky? Browse today's best Sky TV deals.

F1 season pass

F1 TV Pro includes live HD coverage of every F1 practice, qualifier and race. No ad breaks.

F1 TV Pro is available in over 188 countries – but not the UK (you can use the basic 'Access' version for live timings but you can't watch any races live). F1 TV Premium is available in the US.

F1 TV Pro is available via the F1 TV website, iOS/Android apps, Roku TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Google TV and other mobile devices.

Latest F1 TV Pro prices:

• F1 TV Pro in India – $3.99/month (cheapest)
• F1 TV Pro in South Africa – $4.99/month
• F1 TV Pro in Brazil – $5.99/month
• F1 TV Pro in Netherlands – €11.90/month
• F1 TV Pro in USA – $10.99/month
• F1 TV Pro in Mexico – $129/month

Watch Hungarian Grand Prix 2026 live streams in the USA

In the USA, Apple TV is showing the Hungarian Grand Prix – and practice sessions are free-to-air all season.

A subscription costs $12.99 per month after a 7-day FREE trial, though better deals are available to Apple customers.

Buying an eligible Apple device, including select iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Mac models, gets you free Apple TV access for three months.

Apple One, which bundles Apple TV with Apple Music, Apple Arcade and 50GB of iCloud Storage, starts at $19.95 per month after a 1-month free trial.

Alternatively, for a limited time the Apple Music Student Subscription includes Apple TV, and costs $6 per month.

Watch Hungarian Grand Prix 2026 live streams in Australia

Fox Sports has the rights to show every live F1 race in Australia. That means Foxtel and Kayo Sports subscribers get a front-row seat to the Hungarian GP too.

Kayo offers new customers a FREE 7-day trial to test the waters, after which it starts at AU$29.99 a month for the base Standard tier. For up to 4K video quality and simultaneous streaming on up to two devices, you'll need the Kayo Premium plan for AU$45.99 a month.

Subscribers can also stream the action via Foxtel Now by adding the Sports package ($30 a month).

10Play shows free highlights of every 2026 F1 race.

Hungarian Grand Prix 2026: Start Times Around The World

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VPN services are evaluated and tested by us in view of legal recreational use. For example:a) Access to services from other countries, (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).b) Safeguarding your online security and making your online privacy more robust when abroad.Future plc does not support nor condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. We do not endorse nor approve of consuming pirated content that is paid-for.

The player interface has been completely overhauled to make it more intuitive, immersive and full of even more information. The visuals also dynamically adjust to the album artwork.

The mini player will remain visible at all times, so you can always control playback regardless of where you've navigated to within the app. You can also add or remove tracks to the play queue by swiping like on a dating app.

One very welcome is synchronised lyrics, which displays the words to a song line-by-line as they're sung in real time. It even includes translations so you know what they're singing about. Which should settle a few arguments without resorting to Google.

Not sure what to listen to first? Qobuz has created new playlists, including the best songs to sing along to. Sweet Caroline it is.

The Explore section can also help here. It serves up all kinds of recommendations like similar albums and artists, playlists, radio stations, and content related to the radio station or genre. You can also access the Qobuz Magazine – with editorial content on the artist – straight from the player.

The credits layout has been tweaked so give you better access to info like reviews, biographies and technical file data, plus you can follow an artist or label direct from the player.

The listening queue and autoplay now show the next three tracks, so you know – and can adjust – what's coming, and you can tweak the audio output, add tracks to favourites and add to a playlist straight from the customisable mini player.

These features are now available on mobile and tablet apps for iOS and Android, and will come to other platforms at a later date.

In February, Qobuz updated its CarPlay app with more features and Siri voice controls. At £12.99 / $17.99 / AU$20.83 a month, Qobuz is more expensive than Apple Music (which recently raised its prices), but the same price as Spotify and Tidal (in the UK at least).

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In June, according to the streaming service, an average of 90,000 AI-generated tracks were uploaded every single day.

Deezer has already made efforts to crack down on fraudulent streams via its AI detection tool, but with such a vast quantity of music arriving on the platform, the company has gone one step further, pledging to “take down generative-AI tracks used to generate fraudulent streams, as well as those that haven’t been streamed for 6 months or more”.

Streaming fraud, also known as artificial streaming or streaming manipulation, refers to using bots to falsely inflate the number of streams a song receives. The phenomenon itself is nothing new, but fraudsters’ methods have changed with the rise of AI.

In the early days of streaming, bots were often used to play tracks repeatedly, garnering royalties by racking up astronomical listening numbers. As platforms caught on to the tactic, they began disabling accounts that saw sudden, unexplained jumps in listeners.

Recently, however, streaming services have seen AI being used to mass produce music for release under multiple artist accounts, each of which can receive a smaller amount of streams, thereby avoiding fraud detection methods.

Even the most evangelical of AI enthusiasts will be able to imagine the impact this has on musicians. Streaming royalties are not an infinite resource, and as a growing percentage of revenue is allocated to AI-generated music, a smaller portion can be paid to real musicians who have already suffered the financial losses associated with the rise of streaming.

With this in mind, streaming services have started taking action.

Tidal, for instance, recently added an 'allow AI content' switch, which is accessible through the platform’s settings page. When switched off, Tidal automatically greys out and skips songs tagged as AI-generated.

If you are using Deezer, the company’s AI detection tool allows you to scan your playlists for AI-generated content. The tool can be used across other streaming services, too, but to see which specific albums are the culprits, you’ll need to transfer your playlists and library to the platform.

AI-generated songs are also automatically removed from Deezer's algorithmic recommendations and editorial playlists. When stream manipulation is detected, the service excludes the involved streams from royalty payments.

Earlier this year, French streaming platform Qobuz also published an AI charter, pledging to remove AI-generated content upon detection.

Spotify claimed it had taken down 75 million AI tracks in 2025, but, notably, the platform doesn’t yet use automated detection to highlight AI music, opting instead for a voluntary tagging model that is reliant on creators' honesty. Apple Music employs a similar system.

According to Alexis Lanternier, CEO of Deezer: “We have reached a pivotal moment, but we have the technology to keep track of the development, and an ambition to do what’s right. If the industry can align and come together to create shared standards, we can build a healthy and sustainable music ecosystem, where great music wins.”

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Forty-four gold medals are being contested on Day 10 of the 2026 Commonwealth Games (Saturday, 1 August), across four disciplines: athletics (10am-1.45pm BST, 6.30pm-10.30pm), judo (4pm-6.45pm), boxing (11am-2.30pm, 4.30pm-8pm) and track cycling (3pm-7pm). There's plenty of netball and bowls to feast your eyes on too.

Today's headline act sees Josh Kerr, who broke the 1-mile record by running a 3m 42.66s a fortnight ago, do it all again. Only this time, he'll be on home turf and in front of an adoring crowd at the Scotstoun Stadium. The race is scheduled for 8.55pm BST.

The 23rd edition of the Commonwealth Games, which has a slightly different feel to it owing to a dramatic reshuffle. It was originally supposed to have been staged in Victoria, but when the Australian state pulled out a complete cancellation looked inevitable until the Scottish government rode in to the rescue.

It's a pared-back affair, however, comprising only 10 disciplines rather than the 24 it incorporated four years ago.

Still, Mollie O’Callaghan, Kyle Chalmers and Shericka Jackson are bringing world-class pedigree to west-central Scotland.

Follow our guide below for where to watch Commonwealth Games 2026 live streams from anywhere with a VPN. We've also listed the full Glasgow 2026 medal timetable, schedule and list of Commonwealth Games sports below.

Commonwealth Games Day 10 timetable

(All times BST)

🗓 Day 10 – Saturday, 1 August

🏅 Medal events:

10.05am – Athletics | Men's shot put F55-57 final

10.10am – Athletics | Men's triple jump final

10.20am – Athletics | Men's 1500m T53/54 final

10.30am – Athletics | Women's 10,000m race walk final

11.50am – Athletics | Men's discus final

12pm – Athletics | Men's 400m final

12.20pm – Athletics | Women's 400m final

1.24pm – Athletics | Women's 200m T37/38 final

11am – Boxing | Women's bantamweight 54kg final

11.15am – Boxing | Women's featherweight 57kg final

11.30am – Boxing | Women's welterweight 65kg final

11.45am – Boxing | Men's bantamweight 55kg final

12pm – Boxing | Men's welterweight 65kg final

12.15pm – Boxing | Men's light-middleweight 70kg final

12.30pm – Boxing | Men's heavyweight 90kg final

3pm – Track cycling | Men's tandem B sprint final (1)

3.16pm – Track cycling | Women's tandem B 1000m time trial final

3.55pm – Track cycling | Women's 25km point race final

4.33pm – Track cycling | Women's 1000m time trial final

5.32pm – Track cycling | Men's sprint final (1)

6.20pm – Track cycling | Men's 10km scratch race final

4pm – Judo | Men's -73kg

4pm – Judo | Women's -63kg

4pm – Judo | Men's -81kg

4pm – Judo | Women's -70kg

4pm – Judo | Men's -90kg

4.30pm – Boxing | Women's flyweight 51kg final

4.45pm – Boxing | Women's lightweight 60kg final

5pm – Boxing | Women's light-middleweight 70kg final

5.15pm – Boxing | Women's middleweight 75kg final

5.30pm – Boxing | Men's lightweight 60kg final

5.45pm – Boxing | Men's light-heavyweight 80kg final

6pm – Boxing | Men's super-heavyweight +90kg final

7.05pm – Athletics | Men's pole vault final

7.10pm – Athletics | Women's long jump final

7.28pm – Athletics | Women's 400m T54 final

7.35pm – Athletics | Women's javelin final

7.45pm – Athletics | Men's 5000m final

8.15pm – Athletics | Men's 4x100m relay final

8.26pm – Athletics | Women's 4x100m relay final

8.45pm – Athletics | Men's 800m final

8.55pm – Athletics | Men's 1-mile final

9.20pm – Athletics | Mixed 4x400m relay final

9.45pm – Athletics | Women's 1-mile final

How can I watch Commonwealth Games 2026 for free?

Lucky viewers fans in Australia and Canada can watch Commonwealth Games 2026 for free, courtesy of 7Plus and CBC Gem.

Limited free Commonwealth Games coverage is available from ThreeNow in New Zealand.

Free-to-air 5 is providing daily Commonwealth Games highlights in the UK, where S4C and BBC Alba have free Welsh-language and Gaelic-language coverage.

If you're from one of these countries but are currently abroad, you can simply use a VPN to tap into that free Glasgow 2026 coverage. More details below...

Watch Commonwealth Games 2026 live streams from anywhere

You won't be able to watch your regular Commonwealth Games 2026 live streams while traveling abroad. The platform will detect that you're in a foreign country and block you.

You can use a VPN (virtual private network) to get around this, though. It's a straightforward piece of software that sets your device to appear as if it's in a different country, allowing you to watch Glasgow 2026 from anywhere in the world.

We rate NordVPN as one of the best VPN for streaming sports. It offers a generous 30-day guarantee for all your money back if you're not happy with the service.

How to watch Commonwealth Games 2026 in the US

BeIN Sports has secured a late deal to broadcast Commonwealth Games 2026 in the US.

A beIN Sports Connect streaming subscription costs $5.99 per month.

If you're currently spending time in the US from Australia or Canada, use a good VPN, as detailed above, to tap into your free Commonwealth Games coverage,

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Watch Commonwealth Games 2026 live streams in the UK

Commonwealth Games 2026 is being shown on TNT Sports in the UK, with live streaming available via HBO Max.

To access Glasgow 2026 coverage, you'll need the TNT Sports subscription, which starts at £30.99 per month.

Free-to-air S4C and BBC Alba are providing Welsh-language and Gaelic-language coverage, which is available to live stream via BBC iPlayer.

Free daily highlights are available from 5.

Outside the UK for the Commonwealth Games? Use NordVPN to tune in as if you were back at home.

Watch Commonwealth Games 2026 live streams in Australia

Commonwealth Games 2026 is free-to-air in Australia on Channel 7, with live streaming available via the 7Plus streaming service and app.

Again, you'll need to use a safe, reliable VPN to access 7Plus when traveling abroad.

Commonwealth Games 2026 schedule

(All times BST)

🗓 Day 11 – Sunday, 2 August

🏅 Medal events:

9am – Netball | Bronze medal game

11.21am – Track cycling | Men's 1000m time trial final

9am – Bowls | Men's pairs final

10.25am – Bowls | Women's pairs B6–8 final

11.50am – Bowls | Men's pairs B6–8 final

1.15pm – Bowls | Women's singles final

1pm – Netball | Final

3pm – Judo | Women's -78kg

3pm – Judo | Men's -100kg

3pm – Judo | Women's +78kg

3pm – Judo | Men's +100kg

3pm – Track cycling | Women's elimination race final

3.20pm – Track cycling | Men's C1-3 3000m individual pursuit final

4pm – Track cycling | Women's Keirin final

4.10pm – Track cycling | Women's C4-5 1000m time trial final

4.39pm – Track cycling | Men's 40km point race final

Closing Ceremony

What are the Commonwealth Games 2026 sports?

3x3 basketball

Artistic gymnastics

Athletics

Bowls

Boxing

Judo

Netball

Para powerlifting

Swimming

Track cycling

Weightlifting

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We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Released in 1995, Heat united two Hollywood heavyweights for the first time. Robert De Niro and Al Pacino had both starred in The Godfather Part II in the mid-’70s but never actually shared the screen, so while Heat’s unrehearsed diner scene where the two face-off is certainly iconic, it won’t test your home cinema system like the film’s other most memorable moment.

Almost two hours into the film, De Niro’s Neil McCauley leads a small team of bank robbers on a heist that could net them a cool $12m if they manage to pull it off. And it seems to be going as planned until it comes to the getaway, when all hell breaks loose on the streets of downtown LA.

What’s most immediately striking is just how loud Heat’s heist sequence is. Even when you know it’s coming, the explosion of noise when Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer) opens fire on the police outside the bank is almost enough to make you jump clear out of your seat.

McCauley’s crew are armed with assault rifles, and in the film-makers’ quest for realism they chose to load them with full-load blanks, which means they use the same amount of gunpowder as real shells.

If you’ve got the volume cranked up, each volley of gunfire is a complete assault on the senses, and you should really be able to hear the difference between the weapons as the three thieves battle against Pacino’s detective Vincent Hanna, and what appears to be the entire LAPD.

Bullets pierce cop car bodywork as if it’s made of paper, while windscreens burst like balloons full of broken glass, with everything echoing off the surrounding office blocks and creating a wall of noise that puts most war films to shame.

Heat isn’t just a great test for the best soundbars or surround sound systems either, there’s plenty here for your eyes to feast on too.

Available to stream in 4K HDR, Heat is famous for its steely blue colour palette and is packed with scenes that juxtapose almost pitch darkness with the bright lights of LA’s seedier side.

You’ll need a TV that’s capable of drawing the detail out of dark scenes to really see what’s going on when Hanna and his team stake out the scene of an attempted break-in in the dead of night, or when McCauley pays a visit to the home of a suspected snitch.

The final shadowy showdown between the two alpha males takes place around the runways at Los Angeles International Airport, where dazzlingly bright lights periodically illuminate the Tarmac for approaching planes, making it a brilliant test for your TV’s contrast.

As with McCauley and his crew’s scores, time is very much of the essence here. Heat is only available to stream on Prime Video for the next two days before it disappears into thin air, so catch it while you still can.

Stream Heat on Amazon Prime Video

For even better quality, buy the Heat 4K Blu-ray from Amazon

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Figures released as part of a biannual report by the data company Luminate showed that CDs sold 16.3 million units in the country between January and the end of June. Notably, however, vinyl remains the more popular physical medium in terms of overall sales, with 21.8 million units sold.

Luminate attributes part of the surge in CD sales to the release of ARIRANG, an album by K-pop group BTS, which sold 516,000 physical copies in its first week. 208,000 of the album’s physical sales were on vinyl.

According to Luminate, the album’s first week vinyl sales are the largest by a contemporary group since the data company started tracking sales electronically in 1991.

But remove BTS and the wider K-pop catalogue from the picture and CD sales still outpaced vinyl, with a growth of 6.7 per cent. So, what else could have provoked the surge?

Not long ago, we wrote about the effect that Gen Z are having on the physical sales market. Luminate’s report sheds further light on the matter, revealing that young people’s motivations aren’t limited to listening, with approximately half of Gen Z and millennials who bought a CD not owning a CD player.

According to Luminate: “This behavior underscores that for younger generations, the act of buying physical music is as much about aesthetic ownership and direct financial support for the artist as it is listening to the music on the product itself.”

Among Gen X, on the other hand, 55 per cent of buyers cited nostalgia as a direct influence on their CD purchases.

But sentimental value and affordable merchandise aren’t the only drivers here – listening habits are also changing. In the first half of 2026, 60 per cent of Gen Z listeners reported listening to music from the 1990s or earlier, in a jump of 42 per cent since 2021.

While physical sales continue to grow, it’s worth noting that they do so alongside streaming, rather than as a replacement. So far this year, US audio streams have grown by 11.8 per cent, while global on demand audio streams have risen by 9.8 percent.

So, streaming continues to dominate the landscape, but it seems that physical formats like CD are increasingly being chosen for their collectibility and improved financial connection to artists; motivations that any music lover should find hard to sniff at.

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But when you add up the cost of a full year of access, especially to multiple services, the picture starts to look rather different.

How different? We've crunched the numbers, and the results might surprise you.

Paying the price

Streaming isn't that expensive in the grand scheme of things – the top, all-singing, all-dancing tiers of Netflix and Disney+, for example, cost £18.99 and £14.99 a month, respectively.

Many people (though clearly not all) probably don't even notice that coming out of their bank account each month. But while these prices might seem relatively low, they soon add up.

Here's what you'll pay over a year for the top subscription (we hate ads and love 4K / Dolby Atmos) of each streaming service:

Watching the costs add up

The annual cost of TV streaming services

Price

Netflix

227.88

Disney+

179.88

Amazon Prime Video

119.88

Apple TV

119.88

Mubi

227.88

Shudder

59.88

Crunchyroll

83.88

Paramount+

131.88

075150225300

£

Price Data

Product	Value
Netflix	227.88
Disney+	179.88
Amazon Prime Video	119.88
Apple TV	119.88
Mubi	227.88
Shudder	59.88
Crunchyroll	83.88
Paramount+	131.88

For the equivalent of an annual Netflix subscription, you could buy 11 4K Blu-rays at £20 a pop (more if they're on a deal, as they often are). That's nearly one a month.

There are other factors to consider. Most of us have more than one streaming service because of their different content libraries, which makes the habit even more expensive. And with life having a tendency to get in the way, some months we won't watch very much at all.

Suddenly, it doesn't seem such great value.

Admittedly, you do get unlimited viewing of the streamer's entire catalogue, but you never own any of it – if you cancel your subscription, all of your favourite films and TV shows are gone, just like that.

Also remember that some services (Prime Video, we're looking at you) charge extra for certain films and shows not included in the subscription price. So you could end up paying more on top.

Let's have a look at what this looks like over five years and a decade.

And these are at today's prices. Price rises are a given – Netflix has increased its prices in the UK four times since 2021. Take more than one service, and you're looking at a hefty bill.

Someone with Netflix and Disney+, for example, will pay over £400 a year, over £2000 in five years and a whopping £4000 in a decade.

Consider that a 4K Blu-ray costs around £20-25, gives you better picture and sound quality and is yours to keep forever, and streaming starts to look like very poor value indeed.

And that's before you consider how streaming changes your relationship with the content itself.

Faced with an endless carousel of content, all of which feels free (even though it isn't), you inevitably adopt the infinite scroll mentality – even if you like the look of something, you keep searching in case there's something better.

It all becomes disposable, with low-budget fare such as Is It Cake? sitting alongside critically acclaimed films such as Emilia Pérez. When everything is flattened, nothing stands out. This is the landscape we find ourselves in.

There's no curation; that's the problem. Whereas a Blu-ray is a considered purchase – something you'll watch more than once, in the best possible quality, and may even work your way through its extensive list of special features. Now that's value for money.

A word on our methodology

We've made certain assumptions here. As mentioned, we've based our prices on the best possible picture and sound quality for each service (though not the family plans, which would push prices up even further), as we assume that's what our readers desire. Most streaming services have cheaper tiers if you're willing to suffer worse quality and adverts.

Some services can also be bundled together to save money, such as Netflix and Disney+ with Sky. Though that means paying for Sky as well.

Some (such as Disney+ and Shudder) also offer annual plans, which are cheaper than paying month by month. But then you're locked in for a set period, instead of having the flexibility to cancel your membership at any time.

Prime Video is cheaper for Prime members, though that comes with its own cost. And Mubi's Go plan (which we've used in our calculations) includes a cinema ticket each week, so you can remember what it's like to watch a film properly.

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A quirky 100-ball format with five-ball overs that began in 2021 is back for its most anticipated edition yet, as The Hundred 2026 brings a host of exciting updates. Following an influx of more than £500 million into the competition in 2025, everyone from IPL franchise owners to England football star Jude Bellingham has bought into the tournament.

It's Eliminator day in The Hundred 2026, with the second- and third-placed teams fighting for a place in the finals against Trent Rockets. The day's action starts with the women's contest, as Sunrisers Leeds take on Southern Brave at 2:15pm BST at the Kennington Oval. Later, at 6pm BST, Manchester Super Giants face Sunrisers Leeds in the men's Eliminator.

Follow our guide below for where to watch The Hundred 2026 live streams online and on TV wherever you are.

Can I watch The Hundred 2026 for free?

Cricket fans in the UK are in luck!

As many as 16 games of The Hundred 2026, including the MI London vs Sunrisers Leeds opener and the final (men and women both), will be shown completely FREE on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.

Elsewhere, unfortunately, The Hundred 2026 isn't free-to-air anywhere in the world, at least not directly.

We have, however, found a sneaky little trick cricket fans Down Under can use to watch a few matches completely FREE. The trick? Kayo Sports, which comes with a 7-day free trial for new Australian users.

You'll need a VPN to prevent you from getting geoblocked if you're abroad right now. We recommend NordVPN.

How to watch any The Hundred 2026 live streams using a VPN

You won't be able to watch your regular The Hundred 2026 live streams while traveling abroad. The streaming service will spot that you're in a foreign country and block you.

You can use a VPN (virtual private network) to get around this, though. It's a straightforward piece of software that sets your device to appear as if it's in a different country, allowing you to watch any The Hundred 2026 live stream from anywhere in the world.

We rate NordVPN as one of the best VPN for streaming sport. It offers a generous 30-day guarantee for all your money back if you're not happy with the service.

How to watch The Hundred 2026 live streams in the US

In the US, dedicated cricket streaming service Willow TV is the place to watch The Hundred 2026.

If you don't have it as part of your cable package, you can watch Willow's coverage through your choice of Sling TV's Desi Binge Plus or Dakshin Flex plans – starting from $10 per month.

Not in the US right now? Use NordVPN to watch your regular cricket stream.

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How to watch The Hundred 2026 live streams in the UK

Sky Sports holds the rights to The Hundred 2026 in the UK, with live coverage of every single game available on Sky Sports Cricket.

Prices start at £20 per month at present. However, fans can also tune in using a NOW Sports 24-hour pass, which costs £14.99.

But a total of 16 The Hundred 2026 matches are free-to-air in the UK, on BBC Two for cable TV loyalists and on BBC iPlayer for cord-cutters.

BBC iPlayer is FREE, but you will need to create an account, have a valid U.K. postcode (e.g. SE1 7PB) and a TV license.

Outside the UK right now? Use NordVPN to access your preferred coverage of the cricket.

How to watch The Hundred 2026 live streams in India

In India, The Hundred 2026 is available to watch on the Star Sports Network on TV and online on JioHotstar.

Subscriptions to JioHotstar start from just Rs. 79/month (around $0.85 USD). You can just get an annual package for just Rs. 499 ($5.40 USD).

If you're currently out of India but want to watch a The Hundred 2026 live stream, you'll need to get yourself a VPN, as per the instructions above.

How to watch The Hundred 2026 live streams in Australia

In Australia, The Hundred 2026 games are available to watch on Fox Cricket via Foxtel, with live streaming available via Kayo Sports.

Kayo Sports starts at AU$30 per month after a 7-day free trial. Or you can get your first month for AU$1.

Outside Australia right now? Use NordVPN to access your preferred The Hundred 2026 coverage.

The Hundred 2026: FAQs

Preview

The Northern Superchargers have become Sunrisers Leeds, the Oval Invincibles are now known as MI London, and the Manchester Originals have become the Manchester Super Giants. While Southern Brave have retained their original name, they'll now don a blue-and-red kit to align with their new owners, Delhi Capitals.

Other changes include an increase in the number of overseas players allowed in the playing XI from three to four, as well as the introduction of a combined men's and women's trophy to be awarded to the franchise that performs best across both competitions.

The tournament also saw its first-ever player auction earlier this year, with Sussex all-rounder James Coles going for £390k and England stars Nat Sciver-Brunt and Lauren Bell earning £140k each. The biggest payday went to England men's captain Harry Brook – fresh off T20I and ODI series victories over India – who was signed pre-auction by Sunrisers Leeds for £460k.

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It's not the only streaming service hiking its prices lately. Tidal recently announced its prices will go up next month, while Spotify raised its prices at the start of this year.

Here are the new prices for Apple Music.

However, even with the price rise, Apple Music remains cheaper than Spotify and Tidal in most plans and most territories. The student plan remains unchanged in the UK at £5.99 a month.

This is Apple Music's first price rise in four years. Apple recently raised the price of some of its devices – including the Apple TV 4K and HomePod 2 – citing the global RAM shortage.

Annual price rises are swiftly becoming the new norm for streaming services. Spotify has raised its UK prices three times since 2023.

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Ignoring all of the tedious internet chatter and naysaying from self-appointed experts who really should take the time, in the very spirit of their beloved wandering Greek hero, to go outside and touch some grass, early signs point to the blockbuster to end all blockbusters. Reviews seem positive, to say the least.

Nolan at the helm? Check. A star-studded cast working at the top of their respective games? Check. One of western literature’s greatest stories providing the riveting source material? You betcha’.

“But they’re not using the original overlapping bronze armour, and those helmets should be made of boar hide. And why does Odysseus have an American accent?”

Go dump yourself in the River Styx.

I’ll be booking my tickets to The Odyssey as soon as I can, and while my optimism might end up crashing down like the walls of once-glittering Troy itself, I’m relatively confident that you should be doing the same.

Forget Avengers: Doomsday, the cinematic event of the year is here!

The second-best composer named Ludwig

I’m excited for all of those aforementioned reasons of director, production and cast, but I’m also keen to see The Odyssey on the big screen because it once again brings together two of cinema’s most potent trump cards: Christopher Nolan and his composer du jour, Ludwig Göransson.

Nolan has recruited the services of the ever-enthralling Hans Zimmer for many of his greatest barnstormers, including the Dark Knight saga and Interstellar, with Göransson latterly becoming a sort of Zimmer 2.0 as he begins to forge his own reputation as one of the world’s premier composers.

This is the man who did the music for Disney Plus’s The Mandalorian and, under Nolan’s charge, Oppenheimer. Projects don’t get much bigger than that.

The Oppenheimer score is, while we’re on the subject, truly worthy of the movie which it accompanies – we use Can You Hear The Music regularly as a track for testing home cinema and hi-fi – but it is Göransson’s work on the lesser-know (certainly less-understood) blockbuster Tenet that has me setting sail on my Trireme and making for the multiplex to discover what the Swedish composer can do for The Odyssey.

If you’ve seen Tenet, you’ll know exactly the sort of challenges which must have faced Mr. Göransson as he prepared to give it his best. About as confusing as trying to solve a Rubik’s cube inside a hall of mirrors, it stands alone as one of the most mind-bending and elliptical of all of Nolan’s creations.

When you consider this is the man who gave the world Memento and Inception, that’s some feat.

A soundtrack built to last

Thankfully, the accompanying score is a triumph, and one I use often whenever I’m digging deep into the capabilities of a new pair of headphones or a box-fresh (but properly run-in, of course) amplifier. In fact, it’s become something of an obsession even when I’m outside the test rooms – a sort of musical comfort blanket that I don’t seem to be able to take off.

POSTERITY is the track that has lodged the deepest roots in my psyche – so much so that I’ll often simply whack it on without thinking whenever I have a spare moment of silence which needs filling, lest the voices are given room to make themselves heard.

At nearly 13 minutes long, it is by far the longest track across the Tenet score, yet what’s remarkable about POSTERITY is that not a second feels wasted across what is a sprawling, Herculean runtime.

That obviously means you’ll need to set aside quite a bit of time if you’re using it for testing; but the reward is worth the considerable effort. POSTERITY, in the same vein as Hans Zimmer’s Supermarine (written for another Nolan movie, Dunkirk), is all about the progression, about the slow but inexorable build-up as it rises and swells from glowing embers to a roaring, engulfing blaze.

Not once is that repetitiveness ever dull. POSTERITY has such a potent sense of momentum that it enraptures from its first note, hooking you in by virtue of its unrelenting intensity and strange, hypnotic instrumentation. I have previously described some of the sound produced as being like a zither being whacked with a bit of old drainpipe, and in truth, I’m yet to come up with a better description.

Drainpipe and zither it is.

There’s a lot, then, for your system to capture. Not only that inexorable build as the composition becomes denser and more intense, but the very particular tone and feel of the piece conjured by its oddball instrumentation and unique soundscape. It’s also a treat if you want to see how your system conveys both small-scale and big-picture dynamics, from the chuntering analogue synthesisers to the intermittent stabs of drums and pianos.

Or it might just be one piano, singular.

You don’t have to stop at POSTERITY, either. FREEPORT recruits those strange zither-like synths to great effect, again trading on continuous instrumental loops punctuated by intermittent percussive whacks and electronic pulses to keep your system’s dynamic reproduction honest.

Or, if you want something quieter and more delicate, the sparseness of THE PROTAGONIST is well worth seeking out, offering up woozy synth rumbles accompanied by a rich, mysterious guitar.

RAINY NIGHT IN TALLINN makes for a similarly keen showcase of how well a system or set-up can really put a piece of music together. It bounds constantly between a mesh of styles and tones in a manner that is as bamboozling as Tenet’s very subject matter.

RAINY NIGHT accompanies the movie’s intense ‘opera siege’ opening scene, so if you want the full audio visual experience, seek it out to see how sound and screen work together in harmony.

As an aside, it’s well worth watching Tenet for its peculiar use of music and non-diegetic sound. For instance, the accompanying soundtrack will often be too loud or overbearing as a way of expressing – or perhaps masking – the mood and intentions of the characters on-screen. Check out this scene in particular and you’ll get the idea.

Music maketh movie(s)

Music is just as important to a great movie as anything on the screen itself – Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton aside, sound and sight go hand in hand when delivering the true masterpieces of modern cinema.

Where would Star Wars have been without John Williams? How diminished would the Lord of the Rings trilogy become without Howard Shore? Where is Sergio Leone without Ennio Morricone?

While the prospect of Christopher Nolan directing an adaptation of Homer's Odyssey is sufficient to have most right-headed people champing at the bit to get to book a screening, the addition of Ludwig Göransson providing the music should be more than enough to have you hammering on the doors of your local Cineworld as if they were the gates of Ilium itself.

Around this time last year, my local cinema closed – seemingly for good. Defying all odds, its doors are once again open, meaning I’ll be able to experience for myself the sights and sounds of Nolan’s epic adaptation in all of the 12-channel, Dolby Atmos-powered glory. It’s not quite the Waterloo IMAX, but it’s the next best thing.

The Odyssey has all the makings of a milestone cinematic event. Now that it’s finally in cinemas, I can’t wait to see – and hear it – for myself.

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