15 tech upgrades to turn your home into the ultimate World Cup viewing den
The World Cup only comes round once every four years, which means everyone suddenly has a very good reason to spend money on the living room. Screens have dropped in price, projectors have got smarter, and speakers are now genuinely worth sitting in front of. We’ve rounded up the best of everything, from the couch you’ll spend the tournament on to the outdoor speakers you’ll need when the weather plays ball.
The Main Screen
Because this is not the tournament to be squinting at a 42-inch.
LG B6 OLED, 55-inch
True OLED picture quality on a World Cup budget is no longer a fantasy. The 55-inch LG B6 is a brand new 2026 OLED that came out in March, and it’s currently available for £879 at Richer Sounds using the code LG20PERCENT. That gets you proper pixel-level light control, which means the blacks in those night-time stadium shots are genuinely black, not a dark shade of grey. Fast-moving football is where OLED earns its place: no blooming, no lag, no excuses. Stick it on the wall and tell yourself the wall bracket was always part of the plan.
Hisense 98E7QTUK 98-inch QLED 4K Smart TV
Not everyone wants subtle. If you’ve got a room that can take it, the Hisense 98E7QTUK is the most direct argument for watching football at home rather than at a pub. Priced at £2,799, this 98-inch screen is powered by Quantum Dot Colour and the Hi-View AI Engine, which fine-tunes every frame in real time for enhanced resolution, brightness, and contrast. The AI Smooth Motion system keeps fast camera pans and quick through-balls fluid, which matters more on a screen this size where any blur looks catastrophic. It also ships with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, so the noise of 80,000 fans doesn’t just happen on screen.
TCL A400 Pro NXTVISION TV
For rooms where the TV has to earn its place as a design object as much as an entertainment device, the TCL A400 Pro NXTVISION is the answer to the age-old “but it’s ugly when it’s off” problem. Its light walnut-effect frame mirrors a picture frame, and when no one’s watching the match, it transforms into a curated digital art display. A soft matte screen reduces reflections in bright rooms, which is exactly what you need for afternoon kickoffs. It starts from £599 for the 43-inch and runs to £1,399 for the 75-inch, making it the most design-literate option in the roundup.
The Big Screen Alternative
Take the match wall-to-wall, or outside entirely.
Acer PD1520Us Ultra-Short Throw Projector
Compact spaces and 100-inch screens usually don’t belong in the same sentence, but the Acer PD1520Us changes that. Its Ultra-Short Throw technology lets it sit just a few centimetres from the wall to produce a full HD 1080p picture with 4K support, and the whole unit weighs in at just 740 grams, so it moves between rooms without any ceremony. The LED light source turns on in one second flat, which is how projectors should work in 2026, and the 30,000-hour lifespan means the 2030 World Cup is covered too. There’s also a Tabletop Mode that projects a 23-inch image directly onto a surface, which turns any kitchen table into a pre-match tactics board.
Epson Lifestudio Flex Special Lux Edition EF-73
The EF-73 is what you get when a projector forgets it’s supposed to look like office equipment. The casing features tempered glass, suede finishes, and anodized gold accents, and the top panel doubles as a Qi wireless phone charger. On the picture side, it supports 4K PRO-UHD projection and can scale from 30 inches up to 150, making it suitable for everything from movie nights to match days. Google TV handles streaming duties, and the built-in Sound by Bose speakers mean you’re not scrambling for a soundbar. Auto Focus, Auto Keystone, and Auto Screen Fit all handle themselves, so setup takes roughly as long as making a cup of tea.
HONOR CHOICE Projector Air Pro
The HONOR Choice Projector Air Pro packs native 1080p resolution and 292 ANSI lumens brightness into a unit that weighs around the same as a bottle of water, making it the one to grab if you need a projector that’s genuinely portable rather than just “portable in theory”. Built-in Netflix, YouTube and Prime Video mean no dongle required, and Auto Keystone correction handles the imperfect surfaces that garden setups always involve. For back garden viewings or projecting onto a bedsheet strung between two fences, it’s the most practical projector in this list.
Sound That Matches the Screen
TV speakers won’t cut it. Here’s what will.
Loewe We. HEAR pro x Kylian Mbappé
A speaker co-designed by the best player on the planet for the summer of his tournament. The first product collaboration between Loewe and Kylian Mbappé combines an array of drivers and passive bass radiators with a Class-D amplifier, optimised for horizontal placement on a sideboard or garden table. Available in Denim, Neon and Black, each unit carries Mbappé’s initials as a stamp of approval. Up to 24 hours of battery life gets you through a full day of group stage fixtures, and superfast charging replenishes a full battery in two hours. For the football fans who take both the football and the aesthetic seriously.
Sonos Ray Soundbar
Compact, stylish and balanced-sounding, the Sonos Ray enhances your TV, music and gaming experience without taking up half the unit below your screen. Forward-facing acoustics make it particularly well-suited to enclosed spaces like TV cabinets, and the fine-tuned dialogue clarity means you’ll actually hear every word of the commentary rather than having it buried under crowd noise. It connects to your TV’s optical output, expands into a full Sonos surround system if you want to go further down that rabbit hole, and sets up in minutes. Currently available from around £199, it’s the entry point that doesn’t feel like a compromise.
Denon DHT-S517 Dolby Atmos Soundbar
For anyone who wants overhead sound on a sensible budget, the Denon DHT-S517 is the move. It’s a 3.1.2-channel system with upfiring Atmos speakers built directly into the soundbar body and a wireless subwoofer that pairs automatically. The result is roar-from-above crowd noise and a low end that you feel in your chest when someone hammers one from outside the box. Seven drivers in total, including dedicated upfiring units left and right, and a Dialogue Enhancer mode so no one has to keep asking “what did the commentator just say?”.
JBL Xtreme 5
The JBL Xtreme 5 features a new acoustic design with dual tweeters, a subwoofer, and enhanced power output, with AI Sound Boost minimising distortion at high volumes. It’s IP68-rated, which means rain delay in the garden doesn’t require a mad dash indoors, and the edge lighting is a genuinely fun addition for evening kickoffs. Battery life runs to 24 hours, with an additional four hours via Playtime Boost, which covers the full tournament schedule without a recharge emergency.
Lithe Audio iO1 Indoor/Outdoor Wireless Speaker System
Where the JBL covers portability, the Lithe Audio iO1 handles permanent installation. Voice-activated and weatherproof, these speakers can be mounted on a wall, pagoda roof, or planted on a garden spike, taking the match audio outside without running a single cable. One master speaker can live indoors or outdoors, with a second passive speaker linkable if you need wider coverage. For longer gardens where you want crowd noise accompanying the barbecue from one end to the other, this is the system that does it without compromise.
The Setup Itself
Because the sofa matters as much as the screen.
King Living ReoGrand Sofa Bed with Smart Pockets
The sofa you’re on for a six-hour marathon of back-to-back fixtures matters more than people admit. The King Living ReoGrand is a luxury sofa bed with a lowline design, adjustable headrests, and Smart Pockets built into the frame for remotes, phones, and anything else that gets lost in a long session. Sitting up for a nail-biting penalty shootout or resting back through a turgid goalless draw, it handles both with its adjustable back. And when the tournament’s over and someone needs to sleep on it, that option’s there too. Starting from £2,490 in a range of fabrics and leathers.
More4Homes Broadway Electric Cinema Recliner Chair
The Broadway is the one to know about if you want a proper home theatre chair without spending luxury furniture money. Covered in Air Leather with diamond stitching, it reclines fully at the push of a button, with a powered headrest that adjusts independently so you can find the exact angle. The LED ambient base lighting and illuminated cupholders are a genuinely fun detail for evening viewings. Storage compartments are built into both armrests, and the USB and USB-C charging points mean your phone stays topped up through a three-hour match without you having to move. It comes in 1, 2, 3, and 4-seater configurations, and the wall-hugging design means it doesn’t need much clearance behind it.
Tech Smart Power Recliner Sofa
This is the one if you want the sofa to do the actual work. The Tech Smart Power Recliner is built around a central console with cup holders that actively cool and heat drinks, so the half-time beer stays cold without anyone having to get up. Beyond that, it has built-in Bluetooth speakers, wireless phone charging, a concealed storage drawer in the console, and USB/USB-C ports at each seat. The seats themselves are pocket-sprung with a foam and fibre topper, and the power recline has a re-set button so it snaps back to upright for when you’re actually watching. It’s available as a 2-seater, 3-seater, or corner configuration in a charcoal faux leather. Pricing is on reques, but it’s stocked and available through both The Furniture Mega Store and Interior Envy.
Tips: How to get the most from your World Cup setup
Match the screen to the room, not your ambition. A 98-inch TV in a small lounge is counterproductive: you need at least 2.5-3 metres of viewing distance to avoid the image feeling overwhelming. For tighter rooms, a projector throwing onto a good screen or light-coloured wall will serve you far better.
Sort the audio before the tournament starts. If you’re adding a soundbar, do it now and run the auto-calibration while the room is quiet. Diagnosing audio issues between matches is no one’s idea of fun.
Plan your outdoor setup around power, not distance. Extension cables are unglamorous but essential. Wireless speakers solve some of this, but projectors and TVs still need to be within reach of a socket. Weatherproof power strips are available at most DIY chains for under £30 and are worth every penny.
