With the FIFA World Cup group stage drawing to a close in the early hours of Sunday morning (BST), both the BBC and ITV are rushing to lock in their broadcast selections for the tournament's first knockout round — the round of 32.

As the United Kingdom's two national broadcasters for the tournament, the BBC and ITV split the matches equally between them across the competition. Once the group stage concludes, executives at both channels will begin the formal process of selecting which matches to air.

How the selection process works

The BBC holds the advantage of first pick among the 16 round of 32 fixtures. However, many of those lineups remain unknown until the group stage is entirely complete — making it a frantic window for planning teams on both sides.

The opening round of 32 match kicks off on Sunday night at 20:00 BST, pitting co-hosts Canada against South Africa. That gives broadcasters roughly 15 hours from the end of the group stage to confirm their selections and overhaul pre-planned programming schedules accordingly.

A BBC spokesperson acknowledged the pressure: