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2026 sport preview: All the live sport coming to Virgin TV in the year ahead
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The FIFA World Cup, the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, the Commonwealth Games, two T20 Cricket World Cups – it’s all coming to your screens in 2026, plus much more. Here’s how to watch it all
By Chris Miller, Feature Writer
- Published
- 31 December 2025
Are you ready for a year of fantastic sport? Any year that includes a FIFA men’s World Cup is a big year for sports fans, but it’s certainly not the only game in town. In 2026 we can also look forward to the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, the Commonwealth Games, two T20 cricket World Cups and much, much more – all coming your way on Virgin TV.
Sky Sports and TNT Sports subscribers can make the most of this bonanza of sport with hours of live action week in, week out. If you’re thinking your telly could do with some more live sport on it, then have a look at our Sports TV Package deals to find the combination that’s perfect for you. But there’s lots more live sport to watch on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and 5, as well as streamers like Prime Video.
Scroll down for our look ahead at the best sport coming your way on Virgin TV in 2026. For up-to-date broadcast details of all the live sport on TV, don’t forget to check out our full weekly guide to live sport and our monthly guides to all the live action on Sky Sports and TNT Sports.
FIFA World Cup 2026
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Dates: 11 June to 19 July
Channels: BBC, ITV
It’s the biggest ever FIFA World Cup, with 48 men’s teams competing at the finals being held across Canada, Mexico and the USA. The opening game is at the legendary Aztec Stadium in Mexico City – a bit of added nostalgia for those who fondly remember the 1986 event – and the final will be at the 82,500-capacity MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. England and Scotland have qualified, while Wales and Northern Ireland may also be there if they get through their play-offs in March. With all 104 games being broadcast live on ITV and BBC TV channels and streaming platforms, fans are in for a real festival of international football
Winter Olympic Games + Winter Paralympic Games 2026
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Dates: 6 to 22 February (Olympics), 6 to 15 March (Paralympics)
Channels: TNT Sports + BBC (Olympics), Channel 4 (Paralympics)
From the high-speed thrills of the slalom and luge to the awesome aerobatics of the snowboarders and freestyle skiers, winter sports is always a great watch and 2026 marks the four-yearly pinnacle for these superb athletes: the Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games. This year they’re in Milano Cortina in Italy, which is good news for UK viewers who have had to watch the action at odd hours in recent events held in Pyeongchang, Vancouver and Beijing. Team GB doesn’t have a grand tradition of winter sports heroics but picked up eight medals across the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics so there are some successes to shout about, alongside the brilliant achievements by those from the world’s more snowbound regions.
Commonwealth Games 2026
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Dates: 23 July to 2 August
Channel: TNT Sports
When Glasgow hosted this event, bringing together the nations of the Commonwealth for a two-week multi-sport festival, in 2014 it was hailed as the greatest Games ever – so when Victoria in Australia withdrew from staging the 2026 event, the Scottish city was the clear choice. Athletes from 74 nations (including Gabon and Togo, who joined the Commonwealth in 2022) are expected to take part across 10 events, taking in athletics, gymnastics, netball, swimming, track cycling and more, in what promises to be a spectacular celebration of sport and international cooperation.
Football
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Channels: Sky Sports, TNT Sports, BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Premier Sports, Prime Video
As well as the FIFA World Cup, the beautiful game is on our screens throughout the year, with the Premier League continuing its reign as the world’s biggest and best domestic league (Sky Sports and TNT Sports) and the UEFA Champions League featuring the elite clubs and players from across the top European leagues (TNT Sports and Prime Video).
Fans can also watch the Scottish Premiership (Sky Sports and Premier Sports), English Football League (Sky Sports and ITV), Women’s Super League (Sky Sports and BBC), FA Cup (TNT Sports and BBC), Women’s FA Cup (TNT Sports and Channel 4), UEFA Europa League and Conference League (TNT Sports), La Liga (Premier Sports), Serie A (TNT Sports), Bundesliga (Sky Sports and BBC) and more action from the UK nations and around the world, all year long on Virgin TV.
Cricket
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Channels: Sky Sports, TNT Sports, BBC, 5
With the variety of formats in modern cricket, you’re never far away from a World Cup, and this year there are two T20 competitions to immerse yourself in: the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka (February to March) and the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in England and Wales (June to July), both on Sky Sports. There’s also a full summer of men’s Test matches to look forward to, with New Zealand, India and Pakistan all touring, as well as men’s and women’s one-day and T20 internationals.
In the UK summer you can watch international cricket on Sky Sports, with some live games on 5, while in the winter follow overseas games on TNT Sports. Sky Sports also shows domestic competitions the T20 Blast and County Championship, while The Hundred is on Sky Sports and the BBC. Dedicated fans can also watch international T20 leagues like the Indian Premier League and Australia’s Big Bash League and Women’s Big Bash League on Sky Sports.
Rugby union
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Channels: Sky Sports, TNT Sports, BBC, ITV, Premier Sports
England’s Red Roses had an incredible year in 2025 as they claimed the Women’s World Cup with a memorable victory over Canada at Twickenham. You can see them in action again in 2026 in the Women’s Six Nations (April to May), which is on the BBC and S4C. Ahead of that, the men’s Six Nations runs from February to March, with France defending their title, and you can watch that on ITV, the BBC and S4C.
The autumn men’s internationals featuring England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales against the best XVs from around the world will be on ITV this year. And you can follow every try, kick, scrum and ruck from English PREM Rugby league on TNT Sports, with Women’s Premiership Rugby also shown on TNT Sports and BBC iPlayer. The European Champions Cup and Challenge Cup are on Premier Sports and S4C, with Premier Sports also showing France’s Top 14, while Sky Sports shows club rugby union from Australia and South Africa.
Motorsport
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Channels: TNT Sports, Sky Sports, Channel 4, ITV, Premier Sports
There’s a huge array of motorsport to enjoy on Virgin TV, including the Formula One Championship, which has full-season live coverage on Sky Sports with the British Grand Prix also shown live on Channel 4. The cutting-edge, all-electric Formula E season is shown live on ITV and TNT Sports, while you can watch the World Rally Championship, Supercars, MotoGP and Superbikes on TNT Sports. ITV is where you can see the British Touring Car Championship and there’s NASCAR racing from the US on Premier Sports.
More sport in 2026
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Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz will renew their rivalry in 2026 and you can watch the world’s best female players in action too, with the four tennis majors all live on Virgin TV: the Australian Open (January to February, TNT Sports), the French Open at Roland-Garros (May to June, TNT Sports), Wimbledon (June to July, BBC) and the US Open (August to September, Sky Sports).
Sky Sports is the home of golf on TV, showing all nine majors: the Masters (April), the US PGA Championship (May), the US Open (June) and the Open Championship (July) in the men’s game, and the , as well as the the Chevron Championship (April), the Women’s PGA Championship (June), the US Women’s Open (June), the Evian Championship (July) and the Women’s Open (July to August).
And that’s not even all of it: there’s Super League and international rugby league (Sky Sports and BBC), the NFL (Sky Sports, 5 and Netflix), PDC darts (Sky Sports and ITV), NBA basketball (Sky Sports), UFC (TNT Sports), snooker (BBC and TNT Sports), Major League Baseball (TNT Sports and BBC) and more. With Virgin TV, you never have to miss a moment of top-class, thrilling live sport.
Not heard about Virgin TV Go?
Don’t let anything get in between you and your essential viewing with Virgin TV Go. With loads of sport and Box Sets to try out, you’ll always be entertained wherever you are!
The app is available to all Virgin TV customers at no extra cost and is compatible with Android, iOS, Windows 10 and PC/Mac. Get downloading (from the links below) and you’ll be one step closer to watching what you want, when you want.
Download the Virgin TV Go app from the Apple app store
Download the Virgin TV Go app from Google Play
Download the Virgin TV Go app for Windows 10
Don’t miss a moment of the action
Catch Sky Sports, TNT Sports and more fan favourites with our Sports TV Package deals
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