Footy fans will watch World Cup on the internet at work

Two in five Brits (42 per cent) plan to watch the World Cup at work this summer, but with the festival of football only five days away, planning how to watch the games during the working day is a top priority for many football fans, says moneysupermarket.com.

According to the survey from Britain's number one comparison site, a third of footy fans tuning in at work will use streaming sites such as BBC iPlayer or internet radio to catch the game (33 per cent) and a over 800,000 will tune in on their smartphone (7 per cent).

A cheeky 365,000 Brits have a cunning plan to pretend they have a meeting and go to the pub to watch the match. A less subtle, 122,000 men plan to call in sick and around 487,000 hardcore World Cup fans are planning to take holiday during the tournament to watch as much of it as they can.

Mike Wilson, manager of mobiles and broadband at moneysupermarket.com said, "A significant number of people plan to get online to watch the tournament which will put a lot of strain on the office network and internet speeds. It may pay for some offices to at least screen the England games on a TV for their staff.

"Those that are planning to tune in on their smartphone need to make sure they are streaming games through a Wi-Fi connection. Watching through the operators 3G network could easily drive you over your download limit and result in some hefty bills when the World Cup is over."

The survey also revealed 1.2 million Brits are planning to get a new TV or TV package such as Sky ahead of the World Cup.