What Are The Top Sporting Events I Can Watch Over The Festive Period?
Christmas is a time for festivities, family, food and fantastic sporting events! In this post, we are going to take a look at some of the cracking festive sports fixtures that are available for you to enjoy over the Christmas period heading towards the New Year.
Football – AFCON – from 21st Dec – Jan 2026
The African Cup of Nations starts on the 21st December and features matches throughout the festive period. Some of the top games to follow include:
- Egypt v Zimbabwe – 22nd Dec – 8pm
- Nigeria v Tanzania – 23rd Dec – 5.30pm
- Algeria v Sudan – 24th Dec – 3pm
- Cameroon v Gabon – 24th Dec – 8pm
- Egypt v South Africa – 26th Dec – 3pm
- Morocco v Mali – 26th Dec – 8pm
- Senegal v DR Congo – 27th Dec – 3pm
- Nigeria v Tunisia – 27th Dec – 8pm
- Ivory Coast v Cameroon – 28th Dec – 8pm
- Zambia v Morocco – 29th Dec – 7pm
- Uganda v Nigeria – 30th Dec – 4pm
- Equatorial Guinea v Algeria – 31st Dec – 4pm
- Gabon v Ivory Coast – 31st Dec – 7pm
The Group Stages finish on the 31st December with the Round of 16 starting in January.
NFL Christmas Fixtures – from 25th to 30th December
There is a busy period for NFL Teams as they approach the final week of the season with this set of Week 17 games, the penultimate weekend of the regular season.
25th December
- 6pm – Dallas Cowboys @ Washington Commanders
- 9.30pm – Detroit Lions @ Minnesota Vikings
26th December
- 1.15am – Denver Broncos @ Kansas City Chiefs
27th December
- 9.30pm – Houston Texans @ Los Angeles Chargers
28th December
- 1.00am – Baltimore Ravens @ Green Bay Packers
- 6.00pm – Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Miami Dolphins
- 6.00pm – New England Patriots @ New York Jets
- 6.00pm – Pittsburgh Steelers @ Cleveland Browns
- 6.00pm – Jacksonville Jaguars @ Indianapolis Colts
- 6.00pm – New Orleans Saints @ Tennessee Titans
- 6.00pm – Seattle Seahawks @ Carolina Panthers
- 6.00pm – Arizona Cardinals @ Cincinnati Bengals
- 9.05pm – New York Giants @ Las Vegas Raiders
- 9.25pm – Philadelphia Eagles @ Buffalo Bills
29th December
- 1.20am – Chicago Bears @ San Francisco 49ers
30th December
- 1.15am – Los Angeles Rams @ Atlanta Falcons
Football – Premier League Matchday 18 and 19
The festive period is always busy for Premier League teams with two sets of fixtures between the 26th December and the 1st January.
Matchday 18 – 26th to 28th December
- Man Utd v Newcastle
- Nottingham Forest v Man City
- West Ham v Fulham
- Brentford v Bournemouth
- Liverpool v Wolves
- Arsenal v Brighton
- Burnley v Everton
- Chelsea v Aston Villa
- Sunderland v Leeds Utd
- Crystal Palace v Tottenham
Matchday 19 – 30th December to 1st January
- Burnley v Newcastle Utd
- Chelsea v Bournemouth
- Nottingham Forest v Everton
- West Ham v Brighton
- Arsenal v Aston Villa
- Manchester United v Wolves
- Crystal Palace v Fulham
- Liverpool v Leeds Utd
- Sunderland v Man City
- Brentford v Tottenham
Horse Racing – Boxing Day Meeting at Kempton
Although known as the Boxing Day meeting at Kempton Park, this famous festive meeting, now known as the Ladbrokes Christmas Festival, actually features two days of racing on the 26th December, Boxing Day, and the 27th December.
With six races each day, the highlight of the festival is the King George VI Chase which has boasted some of the most famous winners over the years including four-time winner Desert Orchid, three-time winner Wayward Lad and more recent legends including five-time winner Kauto Star, two-time winners Kicking King, Long Run, Silviniaco Conti and Clan des Obeaux as well as famous one-time winners Might Bite and the fabulous Thistlecrack.
Last year, it was Banbridge ridden by Paul Townend and trained by Joseph O’Brien who was victorious. The horse is back this year to defend the title but is 16/1 with bet365 to win the race. Gaelic Warrior is the 7/4 favourite, with Jango Baie (2/1), the Jukebox Man (5/1), Djelo (8/1) and Fact To File (9/1) amongst the other favourites in the ante-post markets.
Add to this the fact that the PDC World Darts Championship is in full flow with first round matches through to the 28th December, followed by all the remaining matches from the latter stages of the tournament and you can see you won’t be short of sport while enjoying your mince pies!
