LONDON, May 12, 2026, 20:02 BST
Flashscore landed the top spot for fastest live sports results among fans in the UK, Italy, and Brazil, new commissioned research out Tuesday shows—handing the Prague-based live-score service a timely talking point just weeks before the 2026 FIFA World Cup. According to the survey, Flashscore outpaced national broadcasters’ own platforms in perceived speed across all three markets.
Timing is everything here. The World Cup kicks off June 11, stretching across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. With 48 teams and 104 matches ahead, apps that deliver live scores, goal alerts, and match data will face a serious stress test.
FIFA claims the 2022 World Cup in Qatar reached 5 billion people. For platforms like Flashscore, that figure highlights how latency—the gap between something happening on the field and the moment your phone buzzes—becomes a commercial metric as much as a technical one.
Flashscore came out on top for speed, with 46% of 2,000 UK sports fans in a recent survey naming it the fastest for results and updates. In Italy, where the app goes by Diretta, the figure climbed to 49% out of 2,000 polled. Brazil showed even higher numbers, with 53% of 3,300 respondents picking Flashscore.
Accuracy results were mixed. Italian users put Flashscore ahead of rival services and national broadcaster sites for accuracy. In the UK and Brazil, though, respondents saw Flashscore as roughly on par with those other options.
Flashscore credits a 2024 upgrade to its Prague data centre for tripling processing power. The company also highlighted its distributed cloud model, which helps reduce lag by pushing resources closer to end users. During a big Champions League matchday this season, Flashscore said it managed 34 million users, fired off 700 million notifications, and fielded up to 1.3 million requests every second.
Flashscore’s director of engineering, Tomáš Kavka, pushed back on the idea of a “magic technology” powering their achievement. “Speed is in our DNA,” he said, noting that reaching South American users from Europe can technically work, but the distance costs precious seconds. News, Events, Advertising Options
Flashscore is making its pitch with some hefty numbers behind it. Back in November, the company reported over 125 million monthly users on its own network spanning more than 70 sites. Parent group Livesport? That figure jumps to more than 155 million monthly actives, plus north of 400 million app downloads.
Competition is active. SofaScore pushes live scores and stats for 25 sports; FotMob focuses on football, serving up live scores and match details; BBC Sport’s app brings live scores, stats, and even text commentary. Flashscore’s survey, though, skipped a named head-to-head comparison with these platforms.
FIFA is tightening up its approach to live data ahead of the World Cup. Back in January, it picked Stats Perform as its inaugural official distributor for both betting data and streaming rights. That means Stats Perform will handle live streams and data feeds for the 2026 men’s World Cup, along with other FIFA tournaments.
Still, the survey is just a perception read—not a true latency audit. Commissioned polls capture what fans believe is fastest, but real-world app speeds shift with mobile networks, device tweaks, local routing quirks, or bursts in traffic after goals, red cards, or penalty shootouts.
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