Following a couple of months off after a breathtaking World Cup, international soccer begins to ramp up again this week. The U.S. men’s national team began their post-Brazil slate with a game in the Czech Republic (NBCSN televised, while FS2 is airing an England-Norway friendly), and the rest of their year will feature home matches against CONCACAF sides and another trip to Europe to take on Ireland. The real interesting football, however, is in Europe where national sides are about to begin qualifying for Euro 2016, the continental championship which has risen in prominence in the States due to ESPN’s all-encompassing broadcasts of the tourney. There are many clubs that could win the Championship, you never know how things will turn out.
With the tournament expanded to 24 teams, all of the big-name clubs in Europe likely stand a solid shot at qualifying, meaning we probably don’t stand a shot at seeing something like 2008, when England didn’t qualify. Still, European football clubs and nations continue to expand their presence in the US, so the amount of games you will see on TV are likely to help continue to grow the game.
Both Fox and ESPN will share qualifying, which takes place over the course of the next few months and well into 2015. Both networks will use games to fill space on their multiple networks (mostly Fox, via FS1, FS2 and Fox Soccer Plus) and streaming platforms (mostly ESPN). Just through this weekend, the two corporate monstrosities will combine to televise 13 matches and stream 13 more.
We only have ESPN’s schedule through this weekend, which is listed as “MATCHDAY ONE” by UEFA, but we have Fox’s slate through the end of the year (through match days 2-4). It’s impressive to see so much air space being devoted to qualifying for a tournament that not only doesn’t involve the USMNT, but also not heavy Spanish-speaking countries, which are attractive for American networks to try and draw from.
Euro 2016 qualifying TV schedule
Sept. 7
11:45 a.m. ET – Hungary vs. Northern Ireland (FS2)
Noon ET – Georgia vs. Ireland (ESPN3)
Noon ET – Denmark vs. Armenia (ESPN3)
2:30 p.m. ET – Germany vs. Scotland (FS1)
2:30 p.m. ET – Int’l Friendly: Serbia vs. France (FS2)
2:30 p.m. ET – Gibraltar vs. Poland (FS Plus)
2:45 p.m. ET – Portugal vs. Albania (ESPN2)
2:45 p.m. ET – Greece vs. Romania (ESPN3)
2:45 p.m. ET – Faroe Islands vs. Finland (ESPN3)
Sept. 8
Noon ET – Russia vs. Liechtenstein (FS1)
2:30 p.m. ET – Switzerland vs. England (FS1)
2:30 p.m. ET – Ukraine vs. Slovakia (FS2)
2:30 p.m. ET – Luxembourg vs. Belarus (FS Plus)
2:45 p.m. ET – San Marino vs. Lithuania (FS2Go)
2:45 p.m. ET – Spain vs. Macedonia (ESPN3)
2:45 p.m. ET – Estonia vs. Slovenia (ESPN3)
2:45 p.m. ET – Austria vs. Sweden (ESPN3)
2:45 p.m. ET – Montenegro vs. Moldova (ESPN3)
Sept. 9
Noon ET – Kazakhstan vs. Latvia (FS1)
Noon ET – Azerbaijan vs. Bulgaria (ESPN3)
2:30 p.m. ET – Norway vs. Italy (FS1)
2:30 p.m. ET – Andora vs. Wales (FS2)
2:30 p.m. ET – Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Cyprus (FS Plus)
2:45 p.m. ET – Czech Republic vs. Netherlands (ESPN2)
2:45 p.m. ET – Iceland vs. Turkey (ESPN3)
2:45 p.m. ET – Croatia vs. Malta (ESPN3)
Oct. 9
2:30 p.m. ET – England vs. San Marino (FS1)
2:30 p.m. ET – Sweden vs. Russia (FS2)
2:30 p.m. ET – Slovenia vs. Switzerland (FS Plus)
2:45 p.m. ET – Macedonia vs. Luxembourg (FS 2Go)
Oct. 10
2:30 p.m. ET – Netherlands vs. Kazakhstan (FS1)
2:30 p.m. ET – Wales vs. Bosnia Herzegovina (FS2)
2:30 p.m. ET – Bulgaria vs. Croatia (FS Plus)
2:45 p.m. ET – Latvia vs. Iceland (FS 2Go)
2:45 p.m. ET – Cyprus vs. Israel (FS 2Go)
Oct. 11
11:45 a.m. ET – Scotland vs. Georgia (FS2)
11:45 a.m. ET – Armenia vs. Serbia (FS Plus)
2:30 p.m. ET – Finland vs. Greece (FS2)
2:30 p.m. ET – Northern Ireland vs. Faroe Islands (FS Plus)
Oct. 12
11:45 a.m. ET – Ukraine vs. Macedonia (FS Plus)
2:30 p.m. ET – Luxembourg vs. Spain (FS1)
2:30 p.m. ET – Sweden vs. Liechtenstein (FS2)
Oct. 13
2:30 p.m. ET – Iceland vs. Netherlands (FS1)
2:30 p.m. ET – Wales vs. Cyprus (FS2)
2:30 p.m. ET – Norway vs. Bulgaria (FS Plus)
2:45 p.m. ET – Latvia vs. Turkey (FS 2Go)
2:45 p.m. ET – Andorra vs. Israel (FS 2Go)
Oct. 14
2:30 p.m. ET – Germany vs. Ireland (FS1)
2:30 p.m. ET – Greece vs. Northern Ireland (FS2)
2:30 p.m. ET – Poland vs. Scotland (FS Plus)
2:45 p.m. ET – Gibraltar vs. Georgia (FS 2Go)
2:45 p.m. ET – Serbia vs. Albania (FS 2 Go)
Nov. 14
2:30 p.m. ET – Germany vs. Gibraltar (FS2)
2:30 p.m. ET – Serbia vs. Denmark (FS Plus)
2:45 p.m. ET – Greece vs. Faroe Islands (FS 2Go)
5 p.m. ET – France vs. Albania (FS Plus)
Nov. 15
11:45 a.m. ET – Austria vs. Russia (FS2)
11:45 a.m. ET – Luxembourg vs. Ukraine (FS Plus)
Noon ET – San Marino vs. Estonia (FS 2Go)
2:30 p.m. ET – Switzerland vs. Lithuania (FS Plus)
Nov. 16
11:45 a.m. ET – Netherlands vs. Latvia (FS2)
11:45 a.m. ET – Cyprus vs. Andorra (FS Plus)
2:30 p.m. ET – Italy vs. Croatia (FS1)
2:30 p.m. ET – Czech Republic vs. Iceland (FS2)
2:30 p.m. ET – Turkey vs. Kazakhstan (FS Plus)
2:45 p.m. ET – Bulgaria vs. Malta (FS 2Go)
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