How to watch Ligue 1: live stream every 2020/21 French football fixture from anywhere

ligue 1 live stream watch french football online

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The football calendar has taken such a battering this year that the new Ligue 1 season is under way before its reigning champions, Paris Saint-Germain, have even completed their full 2019/20 campaign - Sunday being when you can watch a PSG vs Bayern live stream and see the Champions League crown its next winner. After that, the Parisians will redirect their attention back to domestic matters and Ligue 1, where the first fixture is Bordeaux vs Nantes on Friday, August 21. Here's how to get a Ligue 1 live stream and watch French football online from anywhere today.

Ligue 1 cheat sheet

The 2020/21 Ligue 1 season starts in France on Friday, August 21 with matches initially set to be played in front of up to 5,000 fans and face masks expected to be compulsory. Full details of how to watch Ligue 1 online and on TV are below - or bag an early goal by saving up to 50% on our No. 1 reviewed VPN (opens in new tab) to ensure you get your usual French football live stream from all over the world.

It's an exciting prospect, too, with French football enjoying something of a renaissance right now. The national team are the World Cup holders, PSG are Champions League finalists, and against the odds Lyon made it to the semi-finals of the same competition - eliminating Man City and Juventus along the way.

That's the same Lyon that only managed to finish seventh in the Ligue 1 table last season - not even good enough to qualify for the Europa League - so any lingering notions you have about it being a farmers league should be suitably quashed. These successes might not surprise regular viewers of Ligue 1, but if you're looking to get into French football, now's as good a time as any.

By way of background, the 2019/20 season was suspended in March and cancelled in April due Covid-19, with each team still having at least 10 games left to play. PSG were crowned champions - which would have almost certainly happened regardless. More controversially, the two bottom clubs, Toulouse and Amiens, were relegated, then saved by the Council of the State - and then then relegated again. Lorient and Lens take their place in Ligue 1 this year.

And if you thought France's new season would mean an end to such chaos, you'd be mistaken. Marseille vs Saint-Etienne was supposed to play the opening match, but that's been postponed because of four positive coronavirus tests in the Marseille camp. Patrick Vieira's Nice have also decided to play their first match, against Lens, behind closed doors - despite French stadiums being allowed to accommodate 5,000 fans. More drama is sure to follow, so read on and follow our guide for all the ways to watch a Ligue 1 live stream right now.

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How to watch Ligue 1 football from outside your country

If you're abroad and can't bear to miss out on Ligue 1 action, don't worry. While you may initially encounter a problem watching your usual domestic coverage in the form of geo-blocking, there's an easy solution to this common annoyance.

It's called a VPN and it's a clever bit of software that relocates your device back to your country of origin - thereby allowing you to regain access to the services you normally use (and almost certainly pay for) back home.

After extensive testing, our personal favourite is ExpressVPN (opens in new tab), which lets you change your IP address on pretty much whatever device you have, be it laptop, mobile, Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, games console, etc, so that it thinks it is in a different location.

We consider ExpressVPN to be the best because it's so easy and straightforward. It also has very fast connections and watertight security. You can try it with a 30-day money back guarantee, or go for a much better value annual plan where there's a massive 49% off and an extra 3 months FREE (opens in new tab)!

Once you have it downloaded and installed, just go ahead and open the VPN app, hit 'choose location', and you'll virtually transport yourself back home - it really is that easy. Then you're ready to watch your Ligue 1 live stream of choice wherever you are in the world.

How to watch a Ligue 1 live stream in the UK

Anyone wanting to watch top-flight French football in Great Britain or Ireland is well-served by BT Sport (opens in new tab), which has exclusive rights to Ligue 1 matches in the UK.

In terms of getting BT Sport, it's available as part of the provider's wide range of TV and broadband packages (opens in new tab) - as well as being offered as an add-on with Sky (opens in new tab).

But more temptingly, there's now also the option of a BT Sport Monthly Pass, priced at just £25 a month (opens in new tab) on a contract-free basis - or Irish viewers can take advantage of an even cheaper €17 a month offer (opens in new tab) via Now TV.

If you're out of the UK or Ireland but have subscribed to a streaming service you want to access from abroad, remember you can always use a VPN (opens in new tab) to enjoy all the content you've already paid for back home.

How to watch a FREE Ligue 1 live stream in the US

International pay-TV sports specialist beIN Sports (opens in new tab) has the rights to broadcast Ligue 1 French football in the US. Subscribing also means you can watch via the beIN Sports Connect app.

BeIN Sports can be accessed via most cable providers in America, but cord-cutters can also get it through TV streaming services such as FuboTV (opens in new tab) and Sling (opens in new tab).

These services can both be trialled for FREE, and the current Sling TV FREE 1-week trial offer (opens in new tab) is especially worth considering - plus there's also a Spanish-language option (opens in new tab) if you prefer.

French-language channel TV5Unis (opens in new tab) is also showing this season's Ligue 1 fixtures in the US.

How to watch Ligue 1: live stream French soccer in Canada

Much like in the US, beIN Sports (opens in new tab) and the French-language TV5 (opens in new tab) are where PSG, Lyon, Marseille and the rest of Ligue 1's best teams will be shown in Canada. Subscribers can also tune in through the BeIN Sports Connect app on mobile.

If you don't want to subscribe to beIN, then FuboTV (opens in new tab) is the exclusive over-the-top provider carrying the Ligue 1 soccer coverage offered by BeIN.

Of course, if you are outside Canada, you can follow the VPN route (opens in new tab) above and tune in with a BeIN or Fubo login all the same.

How to live stream Ligue 1 soccer in Australia

If you fancy watching top flight Spanish football Down Under, then you'll need to be a subscriber to beIN Sports (opens in new tab) who has secured exclusive live coverage rights to Ligue 1 for this season.

If you're a Foxtel customer, you can add beIN to your package for an extra fee. No worries if you aren't though, as you can also subscribe to beIN as a standalone subscription that can be watched on your laptop, desktop computer or mobile device. That costs $19.99 per month after you've taken advantage of a FREE two-week trial.

That said, sports streaming specialists Kayo Sports (opens in new tab) includes beIN in its package. The Basic plan costs just $25 a month and lets you stream on two screens, while Premium is a mere $35 a month for simultaneous viewing on up to three devices.

Of the two, Kayo Sports Premium (opens in new tab) represents the best value as it offers multi-screen support - which means you can effectively split the price of a monthly subscription between friends or family and pay less.

There's even a free 14-day Kayo Sports trial (opens in new tab) on offer, so you can check it out for yourself without committing a penny, and its app works across PCs, Macs, smartphones, tablets, select smart TVs and more, and it lets you watch a load of other great sports too, including NBA basketball, F1 and American football.

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James is a technology journalist with nearly 10 years experience and currently Sports and TV Streaming Editor at Future, where he works across TechRadar, T3 and Tom's Guide. He is here to help you find the best ways to watch sports, TV shows and movies online. Previously, he was News and Features Editor at Trusted Reviews, Editor of Lifehacker UK, and Senior Staff Writer at ITProPortal.

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