BBC viewers fume as World Cup draw channel is switched halfway through as England finally find out their fate
FOOTBALL fans were left FUMING after the 2022 World Cup Draw switched channels on BBC mid-way through.
Although viewers watching on BBC One were warned it would switch to BBC Two, it left people baffled as to why they would do it during the draw.
The coverage switched at 6pm, so BBC One could broadcast the news.
But not before the channel looked ahead to this weekend’s sport – including the Cambridge vs Oxford boat race.
Footie fan Darren Walsh couldn’t believe what he was seeing, writing on Twitter: “A hour long programme for #FIFAWorldCup where they started the main business 50 minutes into it, and now BBC have to change the schedule to fit it .”
Phillip Whitehurst couldn’t believe they were switching “just as it got interesting”.
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“Absolutely s**t”, “bloody hopeless” and “p*** poor effort” were some of the kinder criticisms levelled at the TV broadcaster.
Another furious viewer demanded that “no sport is shown on the BBC” after the weird switchover.
Others wondered why they couldn’t have put the entire draw show on BBC Two as the 6pm news always gets its slot.
The change came just minutes after England were drawn in Group B, with Iran and USA the first two of their three opponents named.
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England have never played Iran – for obvious reasons.
Now Gareth Southgate’s team will begin their glory push against them, probably at 7pm on November 21 and likely to be at the Khalifa Stadium where Fabio Capello’s England lost to Brazil in a 2009 friendly.
USA will be England’s second opponents.
Three Lions have played USA twice in the World Cup – and never won.
Infamously they lost 1-0 in Belo Horizonte in 1950.
The draw took place in Doha, Qatar in front of a whole host of football stars past and present, their wags, and a handful of big-screen stars.
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England qualified with flying colours and are one of the top seeds heading into the group stages.
But European champions Italy will NOT be in Qatar, having surprisingly lost 1-0 in their qualifier against North Macedonia.