Football fans

The Mirror’s TV writer Jake Hackney joined DAZN to watch the FIFA Club World Cup for free, but the streaming platform’s other features left him impressed

The FIFA Club World Cup kicked off earlier this month, so the Mirror’s TV writer Jake Hackney set up a free DAZN account to see what all the hype is about. Like many Brits, Jake always linked DAZN with boxing, but as that’s never been his sport, he was yet to truly delve into the platform.

DAZN is now the sole global broadcaster of all 63 matches in the Club World Cup and is showing every game for free. FIFA has really pulled out all the stops with the competition, giving it a makeover with a new format featuring 32 of the world’s top clubs.

Manchester City and Chelsea are flying the flag for the Premier League, along with the likes of Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Miami and Boca Juniors. The tournament runs until the final on July 13, and football fans can sign up for a free DAZN account to watch every match.

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As Jake previously told the Mirror, he found it odd not watching football on the BBC or Sky Sports, but given the quality of content and amount of extras available on DAZN, he believes the streaming platform will become more associated with football in the future. Jake opted for the free account, but there’s also the option to upgrade to DAZN’s Premium plan from £9.99.

This includes every Club World Cup match in HDR picture quality and Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound, plus highlights, replays, fewer adverts and full access to the rest of the DAZN platform. But even with a free account, there’s plenty of football content to keep fans entertained in the gap between the Premier League and EFL seasons.

Watch the Club World Cup free on DAZN

The streaming service is showing all of the FIFA Club World Cup games.

What struck Jake was the sheer volume of content available beyond the live matches, with a plethora of features, shows and compilations readily accessible on the Club World Cup homepage. Interviews with big names such as Harry Kane and Pep Guardiola are featured, along with DAZN’s ‘Icons’ series, which offers an in-depth look at each team and the 12 USA host cities.

Since signing up to DAZN, Jake has found himself engrossed in the amount of documentaries focusing on football greats like Cristiano Ronaldo, Maradona and Brazilian Ronaldo. There’s a treasure trove of vintage footage showcasing all the goals scored by specific teams at previous FIFA World Cups, featuring legends like Alessandro Del Piero, Raúl and Didier Drogba.

In short, there’s a feast of content to delve into on DAZN. It’s also straightforward to keep up with the latest competition, with every forthcoming fixture displayed on the Club World Cup homepage complete with dates and kick-off times, as well as the option to view the group brackets and tables, making it simple to stay updated with the current standings.

One can track their favourite teams in the competition to receive a push notification before their games, with Jake following Chelsea and Man City. DAZN sends him reminders about each of their fixtures, though with some kicking off in the early hours, he’ll opt to watch the DAZN highlights instead.

For those who aren’t keen on adding another subscription to their list, DAZN has sublicensed a selection of matches to Channel 5, meaning 23 games will be shown on both DAZN and Channel 5. This could be a good alternative for football fans who aren’t as tech-savvy or don’t mind missing out on some games.

Of course, there’s always the traditional Sky Sports package that costs £35 per month on a 24-month contract, in addition to essential Sky TV. This includes nine dedicated channels, covering the Premier League, Football, Cricket, Golf, F1, Boxing, NFL, NBA, Netball and much more, although the length of the contract might be a drawback for some.

DAZN boasts an impressive lineup of pundits for its Club World Cup coverage, including none other than Brazilian legend Ronaldo. Other big names include John Obi Mikel and Sami Khedira, with Conor McNamara, Andros Townsend, Brad Friedel, Rob Green among the commentators, offering a refreshing change from the usual voices on Sky or TNT Sports.

Jake has been using DAZN on both his Samsung smart TV and iPhone 13 and it’s performed largely well. There have been moments where it’s been slightly slow to respond and there’s been a bit of lag, but once a live game or documentary has loaded up, he has encountered no major problems.

In this Tuesday’s Mirror Daily Digest, we’ve pulled together the biggest stories of the day from tributes following Kim Woodburn’s death to a ‘murder’ victim being found in an exploded house

Welcome to the Mirror’s Daily Digest, where we pull together all the best stories of the day from our News, Showbiz, Sport teams and more. This Tuesday, we’re featuring everything from Kim Woodburn’s death after a short illness to a human rights lawyer being found ‘murdered’ in an exploded London house and a review of Jeremy Clarkson’s pub.

This morning, news broke that Kim Woodburn had died following a short illness. Shortly after, her beloved husband and former co-star shared their tributes to the Celebrity Big Brother icon. Elsewhere, a ‘murdered’ woman was found after a house exploded in Stoke Newington and our reporter went to visit Jeremy Clarkson’s pub to see whether it was worth the hype.

Kim Woodburn dies after short illness as beloved husband and co-star Aggie break silence

This morning, our showbiz team broke the heartbreaking news that Kim Woodburn had died aged 83. The Celebrity Big Brother and I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here icon, who shot to stardom for her no-nonsense attitude and witticisms on Channel 4‘s How Clean Is Your House with Aggie MacKenzie, died on Monday.

Her beloved husband-of-46-years Peter, who she lived with in their Nantwich, Cheshire home, is “heartbroken” over the loss of his soulmate. She was described as an “incredibly kind, caring, charismatic and strong person” by her loved ones, who were “so proud” of what she achieved in her career.

A representative for Kim shared in a statement: “It is with immense sadness that we let you know our beloved Kim Woodburn passed away yesterday following a short illness.”

Read the full story here.

‘Murder’ victim found in exploded house named as ‘lovely’ human rights lawyer

A beloved mother-of-two and human rights lawyer has been identified as the woman found with fatal stab wounds after a house explosion this morning. A huge emergency response including six fire engines and 40 firefighters raced to the two-storey terraced house where an explosion had torn through the basement and ground floor of the east London residence.

The victim has been formally identified as 46-year-old mother and human rights lawyer Annabel Rook, whose body was found with knife wound injuries after the explosion. Police arrested an as yet unidentified 44-year-old male on suspicion of murder before taking him to a major trauma centre in London for slash wound treatment. His injuries were not life-threatening, police said.

Neighbours told The Mirror: “She was a lovely lady – a very doting mother. I would always see her walking to school with her children. They go to school just around the corner.”

Read the full story here.

‘I drove 90 minutes to eat at Jeremy Clarkson’s pub — two words summed it up’

Nobody could have quite imagined the success Amazon would see after releasing Clarkson’s Farm. However, fast forward to 2025, the former Top Gear star’s agriculture show has just finished its fourth series, with a fifth series already on the way.

This season saw Jeremy Clarkson invest in a pub, The Farmer’s Dog, so our Deputy Content Hub Director, Steffan Rhys, went to go and check it out. He wrote: “There was a full-blown security and parking operation guiding arrivals into an enormous adjacent field with hundreds, if not thousands, of cars already parked in it. Visitors streamed like ants in formation between car park and pub and the stunned “bloody hell!” I heard from a fellow visitor pretty much sums up what I was thinking too.

“I’d naively thought that, given I had a lunch reservation (secured easily, several weeks earlier, on the pub website) it would be a quiet affair. After all, only so many people can fit in a pub, right? Wrong. Oh, so wrong.”

Read the full story here.

Killer who stabbed his partner, neighbour and dog on Christmas Day learns fate

A man who murdered his partner and neighbour and tried to kill his own son in an unprovoked and “frenzied” attack after taking cocaine on Christmas Day has been jailed for life. Jazwell Brown attacked his partner Joanne Pearson with a kitchen knife at their home in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, at around 6.30pm on December 25 last year.

He stabbed her 31 times before turning the knife and a baseball bat on his son Jake Brown, with the youngster remarkably surviving his injuries. Brown went on to repeatedly stab Jo’s dog Tilly, a Staffordshire bull terrier, who was later spotted on CCTV limping from the scene.

Brown then headed next door to another flat and began attacking Teohna Grant. He also stabbed Teohna’s boyfriend 29-year-old Bradley Latter who survived, while Teohna was also pronounced dead at the scene. Police previously said the dog had died, but they have since been informed Tilly survived.

Read the full story here.

‘LEAKED’ Premier League fixtures for 2025-26 season – but fans spot major issues

As many football fans await the Premier League‘s return, our sports team got their hands on a reportedly ‘leaked’ list of Premier League fixtures for the 2025-26 season. However, the list – which has been leaked and widely shared on social media platforms – is not as it seems.

As is the case at this time of year, amid growing anticipation among supporters, social media has been awash with claims and fixtures coming to light early. One set in particular have been gaining quite a bit of traction. On the face of it, they look pretty legit. The usual font and layout used when the fixtures are actually released is certainly present.

But dig a little deeper and issues arise. Most notable among them are a number of admin errors which, perhaps if you’re only casting a casual glance and looking at the opening weekend, or even just for your club’s full list, you wouldn’t see.

Read the full story here.

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