We are less than one week away from the start of the World Cup, with the first game kicking off on June 11, and if you’re still deciding on a new TV, I’m here to help.
As TechRadar’s TV tester, I’ve reviewed tons of the best TVs over the past few years and I always include sports viewing in my testing routine and I pretty much always use Soccer as my sport of choice.
For a TV to be good for sports, some of which feature in our 5 essential features to look for in a World Cup TV, it needs to have excellent motion handling, high brightness and ideally good reflection handling. Good color reproduction and screen uniformity (the ability to display a large area of the same color effectively) is key too.
Below, I’ve picked three TVs that I think fit the bill, all of which I’ve personally tested.
Samsung QN90F
Reasons to buy
- Superb motion handling
- Anti-reflection matte screen
- Excellent price for a flagship TV
The Samsung QN90F was the brand’s 2025 flagship 4K Neo QLED model and earned the full five stars in our review. It was our pick as the best TV for sports last year on several of our best-of lists: here’s why.
The QN90F has excellent motion handling, perfect for accurately delivering all the fast-paced action of the World Cup. Whether it’s a trailing ball or a winger charging down the field, the will look smooth on the QN90F.
Equipped with the Glare Free anti-reflection matte screen first introduced in the Samsung S95D OLED, the QN90F is perfect for viewing in bright rooms. It expertly handles mirror-like reflections that can plague other TVs. This will be perfect for the earlier, daytime games of the World Cup.
The QN90F also has solid fullscreen HDR brightness (661 nits in Standard mode) and effective local dimming, meaning it has very good screen uniformity which is necessary to display the green field. Both of these will make the picture even better.
Right now, a 65-inch QN90F costs $1,399 / £1,399 (stock seems low in Australia) which is a great price for this TV. But, stock looks like it’s running very low across big retailers (it’s gone from Amazon US).
TCL QM7K/C7K
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Reasons to buy
- Very affordable for what it offers
- Bright, vibrant picture quality
- Solid motion handling
TCL delivered a strong lineup of mini-LED TVs last year, but the best in terms of value was the TCL QM7K, knows as the TCL C7K/Q7C (depending on retailer) in the UK.
The QM7K/C7K first and foremost delivers excellent brightness levels for an affordable mini-LED TV. Clocking in at over 600+ nits fullscreen brightness in both HDR and SDR, it’s a seriously bright TV for the money which is important for daytime sports viewing and accurately rendering the field during World Cup games. We noted in our QM7K review that it did have a reflective screen, but if you can control this, the QM7K/C7K is worth the investment.
With the right settings, the QM7K/C7K also solid motion handling. When I tested the C7K, setting judder reduction to between 3 and 5 produced a smooth image that didn’t look artificial as I watched footage of soccer games on it.
The QM7K/C7K also has new Halo Control technology for more effective local dimming and blooming reduction and it works. Expect uniform picture when watching the World Cup.
The QM7K/C7K’s real highlight is the price. A 65-inch will cost $799 / £799 / AU$1,399, which is a superb price for this TV. Stock seems stable in most places, but these will fly out the door: especially when Prime Day hits June 23-26. You can even pick up a 98-inch version of the QM7K for $2,199 right now!
LG C5
Reasons to buy
- Razor-sharp performance
- Rich picture quality
- At a great price right now
So, while we do generally recommend mini-LED over OLED for sports, I’d be remiss not to include the LG C5: one of the best OLED TVs I tested last year. It doesn’t have the brightness of a mini-LED so it isn’t as good for daytime viewing, but here’s why you should consider it.
The C5’s motion handling is brilliant. By simply switching to the Natural present in the TruMotion settings, I found the C5 was excellent for sports viewing, expertly handling the sharp twists and turns of the camera during an intense soccer match. The image looked natural and smooth throughout, regardless of what happened on screen. If you’re a purist who hates motion smoothing, it doesn’t do a bad job then either.
Putting the C5 in Standard mode, it delivers bold, rich colors that are sure to make player’s uniforms stand out on screen. It also delivers crisp textures and detail that OLED are renowned for that will make World Cup games look very good. The C5 is also excellent at upscaling, which will be great for any games shown in HD/SDR.
The C5 does have a reflective screen so if you’ve got a seriously bright room with no means of controlling it, then one of the mini-LEDs above will be better. But while the C5 in a 65-inch is available for $1,399 / £1,399 / AU$2,599, it’s hard not to recommend it. Stock looks good now, but with Prime Day happening soon and the excellent LG C6 now on the scene, the C5 may not have long left.
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james.davidson@futurenet.com (James Davidson)
