BBC iPlayer down: Gary Lineker apologises after app stops working for England World Cup match

(REUTERS)

The BBC’s iPlayer has stopped working for England’s first World Cup match, against Iran.

Presenter Gary Lineker apologised for the problems and said the channel was working to fix them.

Shortly before kick-off in England’s first match of the World Cup, users found they were unable to open it or to get online. Viewers said they were unable to open the app, login or to open the live coverage.

Some saw messages that told them “sorry, it looks like something’s not working right now”, while others just saw yellow exclamation marks. The problems appeared prevalent on both the web and app versions of the iPlayer service.

“Just a quick pointer – apologies if you’ve had any BBC iPlayer issues during that first half,” said Lineker, just before the second half began. “We’re working to fix them.”

Even for those who were able to get online, the iPlayer stream seemed a long way behind TV coverage.

iPlayer has, in recent years, largely held up even among the most popular shows. But streaming platforms have struggled with huge interest before – as in the case of ITV Hub, which disappointed fans during Euro 2020 after being hit by a number of technical problems.