Watching the Euro 2012 Soccer Tournament Online (Legally or Otherwise)

Friday, June 8, is one of those days that rolls around every two years on which productivity throughout much of the world is going to take a gigantic hit. That’s because the Euro 2012 tournament gets under way, and it’ll capture the attention of every serious soccer/football fan around the planet. And we do mean “planet” – this competition among 16 European nations is second in quality and importance only to the World Cup, and even non-European fans will be tracking it avidly. Many will be watching it online – and here’s how.

Let’s face it: You can’t take the entire next month off to watch all these games. (If you can? We want your job.) So online viewing of some sort is going to be indispensable for seeing the action while somehow simultaneously fending off your boss and getting your work done. And not everyone will be able to rely on the most legal methods to pull it off. Whether you’re patched into a legal network or looking for an illicit stream, it’s not that hard to find the games you want online or on your mobile device.

All Aboveboard

If you’re tapped into one of the broadcast networks in a major country that has the Euro 2012 rights, you should be in good shape for seeing these games on your computer, tablet or phone. In the United States, that means ESPN, which is the sole rights-holder for the tourney. And you couldn’t be in better hands for getting online access, given ESPN’s continuing push to become ubiquitous on every device you might own, short of an original Kindle. ESPN3.com is your computer’s portal to all of the Euro 2012 games, and you won’t need to be at home and patched into your cable box to get it, either.

If you’re away from that, ESPN3 will simply ask you to log in with your cable provider account first; once you’ve done that, you should be good to watch. The navigation is easy enough: Links for all of these games are likely to be on the home page, but you can also click the “Soccer” drop-down tab and choose the appropriate tab (Live Now, Upcoming or Replay).

Your phone should be just as simple to use for watching the tournament, now that ESPN has gradually extended access to its WatchESPN app for iOS and Android, originally available