World Cup streams: Ways to watch live matches through VPNs will 'double' in use

VPN use doubled during the 2016 Summer Olympics

The use of virtual private networks (VPNs) is expected to double during the 2018 World Cup as football fans looking for free ways to watch live streams of matches.

VPNs allow people to connect their computers or smartphones to a server in a different country, by pretending they are from there. As such, they are an increasingly popular way to access content that would not normally be available in a certain country or jurisdiction.

A user in the US, for example, would be able to watch matches being broadcast for free in the UK by spoofing their device's location and pretending their computer is in Britain.

Broadcasting rights for the World Cup have been purchased by 80 countries around the world, often with several broadcasters from each country winning the right to show matches.

In the UK, broadcasting rights will be split between the BBC and ITV, and all games will be shown for free to anyone with a TV license. In many countries, matches are being broadcast on premium, paid-for channels.

More than 1 billion people watched the 2014 World Cup final between Argentina and Germany, according to figures from FIFA, while 3.2 billion people watched at least one minute of a match during the month-long tournament.

These figures did not include viewers watching online or using their mobile phones.

VPN provider NordVPN said VPN users were likely to double after experiencing a 104 per cent increase in sales during the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Brazil.

"With each large sporting event, more and more people try the VPN technology they might have never used before," said Ruby Gonzalez, who heads communications at NordVPN.

"We started getting questions about how NordVPN can help expand the options for watching World Cup games weeks in advance. It's pretty likely to see the number of new users double again and, once the soccer fever is over, many will stick to VPN as they see for themselves how useful and easy it actually is."