How to watch the African Cup of Nations from outside of France
James Patterson | Last Updated:
Online Privacy & Internet Security Expert
Qualification for the African Cup of Nations is shortly about to start. After their win in the previous tournament Senegal will be looking to retain the trophy, but will face stiff competition from the host nation Ivory Coast, as well as Mo Salah’s Egypt and the perennial powerhouse of Nigeria. If you live in France you will be able to watch every game on BeIN Sports if you are a subscriber. However if you are a French national who is currently living or working outside of France, you won’t be able to see any of them live due to those damn geo-blocks.
Whilst geo-blocks are very annoying, and a little bit unfair if you are an existing subscriber, thankfully there is a way you can see the all games you want to live without missing a kick. All you need to do is get yourself a VPN. Interested? Then keep on reading to find out more!
What is a VPN?
Officially known as a Virtual Private Network, a VPN is a service that will enable you to watch every match of the 2023 African Cup of Nations live, or on demand, wherever you are in the world.
Essentially what this service does, is remove the geo-blocks in a perfectly safe and legal way. It does this by replacing your ‘overseas’ IP address, which is linked to the country which you are currently in, and replace it with one located in France, where the matches are show without restrictions.
How to get a French IP Address to watch the ACN
The process of setting up a VPN to watch the African Cup of Nations outside of France is pretty straightforward and can be achieved in 5 very easy to follow steps:
QUICK GUIDE: How to watch Channel 4oD in 5 Easy Steps:
- Choose and subscribe to a VPN. We recommend NordVPN as they have more servers in France than their competitors.
- Download your chosen VPN provider’s client onto the device you want to watch the football on.
- Install the app onto your device and login in to it with your sign details.
- Connect to any of the French servers on their network.
- Watch the games with no geo-blocks!
Our Recommended VPNs for streaming the African Cup of Nations
There are loads of VPN services on the market, however having thoroughly tested out as many of them as we can find we have come up with a list of what we think are the best three providers out there currently. Choose any of them and you won’t be disappointed with their service.
#1. NordVPN – excellent all-round service provider
- Supported Devices:
After testing a huge number of VPNs we ranked NordVPN as the best option for French football fans who want to watch the African Cup of Nations outside of France.
For a start they have over 230 servers in France, as well as 2 French server locations too. Which means they are able to reduce the risk of their servers suffering from huge overload, as they can spread their customers fairly evenly around their network.
In addition, as all of their servers are 10 GBPs, they offer blazing fast download speeds that ensure your African Cup of Nations viewing experience is not disrupted with delays, lags, or buffering.
Security is obviously very important for any VPN provider and NordVPN have you well covered in this respect. Incorporating a range of cutting edge features within their service, like military-grade AES 256-bit encryption, Perfect Forward Secrecy and DNS leak protection, they make sure that everything you do on the internet undetectable. This includes watching geo-blocked content.
The company also employs a definitive no-logs policy, employing RAM-based servers to get rid of all of your data. For their customers, this means that it is impossible for their data to be monitored, logged, stored or shared with third parties.
NordVPN Prices:
Below are the latest NordVPN subscription prices, current as at October 2024:
#2. ExpressVPN – reliable and super-fast VPN service with a huge global reach
- Supported Devices:
Another excellent VPN provider is Express VPN. Boasting more than 3000 servers in almost 100 countries, they cover a bigger span of countries and territories than any of their rivals. While in France their Paris, Alsace and Strasbourg servers are perfectly set up to allow you to watch the football without restriction.
To support their extensive network of servers they use lightway connection protocol to provide super-quick connection speeds, that will enable you to watch the matches unrestricted on all three of their iOS, Android, iOS and browser apps.
Another stellar feature of their service is that flexibility of their app. ExpressVPN have developed technology that enables their app to be used on pretty much every operating system and device currently available. This includes everything from Smart TV’s, Amazong Firestick and Xbox to iPhones, Mac and laptops.
Like with NordVPN, ExpressVPN has a strong commitment and focus towards making sure its encryption processes, and overall privacy, is not at risk from hackers. Incorporating a suite of features within their service including a strict no-logs policy, VPN split tunnelling and a private DNS that ensures your online activity is always kept safe and secure.
Furthermore, as their clients are able to share their one account across five separate devices, they can watch any of the football matches, or anything else on the BeIN Sports channel for that matter, concurrently with family and friends who might be located in different places.
ExpressVPN Prices:
Below are the latest ExpressVPN subscription prices, current as at October 2024:
- 1 Month: $12.95
- 6 Months: $9.99
- 15 Months: $6.67 (Special Deal: 3 Months Free + Save 49%)
Note: All prices are in USD, and are Per Month.
#3. SurfShark – budget VPN provider with excellent features
- Supported Devices:
Although they are a relatively new player on the VPN market, Surfshark have already made quite an impression with the quality of their service offering.
Known for their affordable pricing structure, the company offer prices which are some 70% cheaper than many of their rivals. They even allow you to pay with non-traditional methods like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple, as well as the more common platforms of Visa, Mastercard, Google Pay and PayPal .
Possessing a massive network of more than 3,200 servers located within 65 countries around the world Surfshark are also well known for their exceptional customer service.
Through Live Chat, email or by telephone, they are able to offer 24/7 support in a timely and professional manner, that provides their users with real time advice and solutions.
SurfShark Prices:
Below are the latest SurfShark subscription prices, current as at October 2024:
- 1 Month: $12.95
- 6 Months: $6.49
- 24 Months: $2.49 (Save 81%)
Note: All prices are in USD, and are Per Month.
PRIVACY ALERT: Websites you visit can see your current IP Address:
- Your IP Address: 43.250.140.30
- Your Location: Beaconsfield, AU
- Your Internet Provider: Synergy Wholesale PTY LTD
* Scammers, Governments, and Advertisers can use this information to track and target you.
Our recommended vpn service provider for general all-round internet security and online privacy is NordVPN. It offers an excellent selection of online security and internet privacy features, excellent speed, and the ability to unblock your favorite streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, BBC iPlayer).
Visit NordVPN