How to watch Commonwealth Games online anywhere

The Commonwealth Games are back, and if you’re Australian or Canadian, there’s genuinely good news waiting for you below: you can watch the whole thing for free, wherever in the world you happen to be.

Glasgow 2026 runs from Thursday 23rd July to Sunday 2nd August, and it’s a different shape of Games to the one you might remember from Birmingham four years ago. We’ll explain why further down, along with the athletes worth watching and how to get the fastest possible stream no matter which country you’re connecting from.

Watch the Commonwealth Games 2026 for free in Australia and Canada

If you’re Australian or Canadian, you don’t need to pay for anything. Your usual free service has you covered, whether you’re on the sofa at home or on the other side of the planet.

Australia: Channel 7 is showing the Commonwealth Games free to air, with full live streaming through 7Plus.

Canada: CBC has the rights for free, with live coverage on CBC Sports and more comprehensive on-demand access through CBC Gem.

New Zealand: ThreeNow carries some events for free, though coverage is more limited than 7Plus or CBC Gem.

The catch is that both 7Plus and CBC Gem check where you’re connecting from. Step outside Australia or Canada, or try to watch while travelling, and you’ll hit a geo-block instead of the opening ceremony. That’s true even if you’re a paying account holder in good standing at home.

The fix is a VPN, and it’s the same trick that unblocks Netflix libraries, BBC iPlayer and pretty much every other geo-restricted service.

What you need to watch from abroad

A VPN reroutes your connection through a server in another country, so 7Plus or CBC Gem see an Australian or Canadian IP address instead of wherever you actually are. Once connected, both services work exactly as they would at home, log in with your normal account and you’re watching.

We rank these four highest for streaming, based on our own testing rather than marketing claims:

How to stream the Commonwealth Games 2026 for free using a VPN

Which VPN is fastest for streaming Glasgow 2026?

We test download speeds ourselves rather than relying on providers’ own figures. Here’s how our four recommended VPNs performed in June 2026 on the servers you’d actually use for this event. We don’t yet have a dedicated Canada test, so the North America column uses our nearest comparable location, New York, as a guide.

Excellent Very good Moderate Slow Poor

If you’re specifically after 7Plus or CBC Gem, NordVPN and Surfshark are the stronger picks based on our figures.

ExpressVPN still leads comfortably for anyone watching via TNT Sports on a UK server, and its apps remain the easiest to use of the four, so it stays our overall top pick even though it isn’t the fastest option for every route.

A VPN will cost you a little speed wherever you connect, that’s normal and shouldn’t affect your stream noticeably unless your baseline connection is already slow.

How to watch the Commonwealth Games 2026 in the UK and Ireland

This is the one that catches people out. In previous years, BBC iPlayer carried full coverage. That’s no longer the case. TNT Sports now holds the UK and Ireland rights, with every event streamed live through HBO Max. Plans start from around £25.99 a month, with a rolling option at £30.99.

If you don’t want to pay for a subscription, free-to-air Channel 5 is showing daily highlights. The BBC’s role this time is limited to S4C and BBC Alba, which carry Welsh-language and Gaelic-language coverage respectively, both accessible through iPlayer.

If you’re a UK or Irish resident travelling abroad during the Games, connect your VPN to a UK server and both TNT Sports and Channel 5 will work exactly as they do at home.

How to watch the Commonwealth Games 2026 in the United States

beIN Sports has picked up US rights, with streaming through beIN Sports Connect. A subscription costs $5.99 a month, or $59.99 for the year, and also gets you access to the main beIN Sports channel.

If you’re an Australian or Canadian currently in the US, connect to a server back home instead and use your free 7Plus or CBC Gem account rather than paying for beIN.

Why is the Commonwealth Games 2026 smaller than usual?

Glasgow wasn’t supposed to be hosting this year. The Games were originally awarded to the state of Victoria in Australia, which later withdrew over the cost.

For a while a full cancellation looked likely, until the Scottish government stepped in with a late rescue plan built around venues it already had.

The trade-off is scale. Birmingham 2022 included 24 sports. Glasgow 2026 has been pared back to 10 sports across 16 disciplines, including the para events.

Familiar names from previous Games such as hockey, rugby sevens, squash and table tennis haven’t made the cut this time, so if you’re used to a bigger programme, that’s why this edition feels leaner.

What sports are at the Commonwealth Games 2026?

• Athletics and Para Athletics
• Swimming and Para Swimming
• Artistic Gymnastics
• Track Cycling and Para Track Cycling
• Netball
• Weightlifting and Para Powerlifting
• Boxing
• Judo
• Bowls and Para Bowls
• 3×3 Basketball and 3×3 Wheelchair Basketball

Athletes and storylines to watch

Josh Kerr arrives in Glasgow off the back of a men’s mile world record, and goes for gold in the return of the historic Commonwealth Mile.

Adam Peaty is back in the pool for the 50m and 100m breaststroke, chasing more Commonwealth silverware to go with his Olympic titles.

Emma Finucane, the Welsh track cyclist, is aiming to add Commonwealth gold in the sprint to her Olympic, world and European titles.

Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem renew their javelin rivalry, with the two most recent Olympic champions going head to head again.

Chad Le Clos needs just one more medal to become the most decorated male athlete in Commonwealth Games history.

Matthew Richardson, who won sprint gold for Australia in Birmingham, competes for England this time after switching allegiance to the country of his birth.

Frequently Asked Questions