ITV’s broadcast of the pre-World Cup friendly between England and New Zealand left many fans dissatisfied with the quality of the footage.
ITV has been hit with complaints from England supporters regarding coverage, camera quality and angles (Image: ITV)
England supporters were furious at the poor quality of the pre-World Cup warm-up match between England and New Zealand, which was shown on ITV.
Thomas Tuchel’s Three Lions faced the Kiwis on Saturday night at Raymond James Stadium in Florida in their penultimate friendly ahead of the tournament. However, fans watching from their home country of England were far from satisfied with both the camera work and the quality of the images displayed.
One furious fan turned to X and slammed ITV. “Is this a re-broadcast of the 1982 or 1978 World Cup? Terrible quality #itv #England” Another fan wrote: “What’s going on with @ITV #England pics? Looks like 1980s TV.”
Meanwhile, a third wrote: “Why do ITV games look so bad like a 1960s replay or something? #eng #england #fa #itv.”
A fourth supporter complained: “@ITV why are the pictures so bad?? Sort it out!!” And a fifth person hit back: “American presenter footage + ITV = absolute quality. The World Cup will look crap on ITV. At least the BBC will broadcast a 4K feed.”
Meanwhile, a sixth simply commented: “The ITV quality for this England game is rubbish. It’s like watching Mexico 86.”
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However, not everyone was blaming ITV. One viewer retorted: “It’s the same with the BBC game against Scotland.” Another person pointed out, “This is American footage.”
Elsewhere, other viewers were far more concerned about the standard of Sam Matterface and Lee Dixon’s commentary. One supporter wrote: “Dear ITV, please keep Lee Dixon and his negative opinions out of England World Cup matches for the past month! All of us, please, from the bottom of our hearts.”
Another said: “Is Lee Dixon honestly the best pundit ITV could send to an England game? Tragic!” while a third said: “Matterface doesn’t provide even 5% of what Mr Tyldesley does when it comes to commentating England matches on ITV. What was @itvfootball doing?”
Harry Kane puts England ahead against New Zealand
Supporters were probably happy to see Harry Kane head home Jed Spence’s cross in first-half stoppage time.
England captain John Stones and Morgan Rodgers had goal chances, but New Zealand caused problems defensively.
With Arsenal’s stars yet to travel to the United States, manager Thomas Tuchel named an unconventional starting XI with Ollie Watkins playing on the wing.
All players who started the game were sent off at half-time as Tuchel ensured that all players were available minutes before the final World Cup friendly against Costa Rica and the tournament opener against Croatia.
