Guide: How can I watch live football on YouTube?

There are plenty of great football matches available for free via live streaming on YouTube

Ever wondered if you could watch live football for free on YouTube? You can! We are here to tell you what you can watch on the Google-owned video platform.

For reasons to do with broadcasting rights, the biggest competitions like the Premier League, UEFA Champions League and La Liga are largely not available to watch on YouTube, but that doesn't mean there isn't any football on there. In fact, there's plenty.

Some of the football on offer on YouTube is a little more niche, but at the same time some of the biggest competitions in the football calendar are present there.

Here is our comprehensive guide to the best live football to watch on YouTube:

UEFA Champions League final (and more)

Regular season games from UEFA's club competitions are not available on YouTube as BT Sport holds the exclusive rights to the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League, and chooses to make those matches available on its pay-TV network or via live streaming on its app.

However, the telecomms giant is known for airing the three European finals on its YouTube channel every season. So put these dates in your calendar, and prepare to watch the UECL final, the UEL final and the UCL final for free via live streaming on YouTube next summer:

UEFA Europa League final: 31 May 2023
UEFA Europa Conference League final: 7 June 2023
UEFA Champions League final: 10 June 2023

Russian Premier League

Despite the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and the decision of most football leagues across Western Europe to cancel all TV rights deals with the Russian Premier League, football goes on in Russia. All Russian Premier League matches are available to watch in their entirety via live streaming on the league's YouTube channel. Fans can see the likes of Zenit, Spartak Moscow and FC Rostov challenge for the Russian Premier League title, and all without spending a penny.

Bundesliga 3 (and more)

It's pretty hard to watch the German Bundesliga for free, unless of course you're living in Brazil where matches are available at no cost via the OneFootball platform. However, fans of German football can see action from a little lower down the pyramid via the Bundesliga 3. The league is action packed and full of exciting players, including young prospects gaining experience in B-teams like Borussia Dortmund II and Freiburg II. It's a good place for real football obsessives to get a look at some future stars, as they compete against grizzled veterans in the German third tier.

The German FA, or DFB, makes several fixtures from the Bundesliga 3 available live each week on it's own YouTube channel. It also streams live games involving the German international women's team, and the German men's U-21 team.

Women's UEFA Champions League

Unlike the men's UEFA Champions League, the women's edition is available completely free on YouTube thanks to DAZN. The live streaming giant owns the rights to the competition and has subsequently made all games available to live stream on a dedicated YouTube channel. Fans of women's football will know that this competition is the pinnacle of the sport and to be able to watch these huge games for free on YouTube is a priviledge.

Aside from live football, YouTube is a fantastic place for football highlights. Almost every big broadcaster and rights holder air highlights on their respective YouTube channels. The Bundesliga floods its channel with highlights for every gameweek. Sky Sports is the best place for Premier League highlights. BT Sport show highlights of every UEFA Champions League game. If you're looking to catch up on what has gone down the night before, whatever football you follow, YouTube is the place to be. The dark days of hiding highlights behind linear TV paywalls are over. Highlights galore on YouTube.

While YouTube may not be able to offer the very biggest names in the sport via live streaming, we know someone who can - bet365. New and existing customers can watch some of the biggest games in world football including El Clasico, Der Klassiker and much more, totally free on the bet365 app or website. All you need is a credited account and to place a bet within 24 hours of the match you want to watch and viola! Just navigate to the game you're interested in and you'll likely see a video icon next to it. Click on that and click on the play button in the video icon on the subsequent match page. bet365 hold the rights to live stream every game of the season from La Liga, the Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and many more of the world's biggest football leagues. Just look out for that video icon next to the match of your choice and enjoy football live streaming with bet365!