Whether you're a diehard fútbol aficionado or a sports fan jumping on the soccer bandwagon, we know you've been eagerly trying to catch all these World Cup matches. But for those who live the cord-cutting lifestyle, it can be a bit of a challenge: Most streaming services require you to validate your TV or cable provider to ensure you're eligible to watch these streams.
The WatchESPN app on Roku is no exception, according to Roku's press release about the app's World Cup coverage. Except that it looks like some lucky folks may be immune to that requirement---the Roku app isn't actually asking for authentication. This means that if you don't have cable, you can still watch live, streaming boy-on-ball action on the big screen.
For some users, the ESPN2 stream will ask for authentication, but if that's the case, just try the ESPN3 stream.
On other devices, like Apple TV, iPhone or iPad, and Fire TV, the WatchESPN app does require you to validate who your provider is. This little hole just seems to be available in the Roku app. So if you've got a Roku, grab a seat on the couch, kick back, and enjoy some matches.
(And yes, we realize covering this is a double-edged sword: While we've alerted more of you to this amazing opportunity to catch free football, we've also likely alerted ESPN to this oversight. We're hoping ESPN's engineers are too busy watching the games to have time to fix this "bug.")
