Summary

The Dutch website Hesgoal is one of the most popular names in the online sports streaming world. It is currently offline due to repeated copyright infringement complains from several sports broadcasters and authorities. In its prime time Hesgoal offered free sports streaming to a wide range of sports such as American Soccer including competitions such as Major League Soccer, USL Championship, U.S. Open Cup, matches of the American national team, MMA, Formula 1 and American sports. The most popular competitions being the English Premier League and the CONCACAF Champions League. In December 2022 the site was taken offline by the US authorities. It is yet to be seen if the site will return in a different shape or form or new URL.

R.I.P HesGoal 💔 pic.twitter.com/7TCl5JjgOs— Barstool Football (@StoolFootball) December 11, 2022

Pros

• Very reliable sport streams available
• Wide selection of sports
• Little advertising and spyware

Cons

What is Hesgoal?

Hesgoal is a relatively new sports and soccer streaming sites that is headquartered in Netherlands. Its geographical location and home of the servers powering the website is highly relevant when it comes to what the site can publish. Currently Hesgoal is offline as its primary domain was ceased by the American FBI for copyright infringement violations. Netherlands, part of the European Union, has one of the most liberal approaches to digital rights management and with that copyright related claims around sports and soccer streams. It is for that reason that Hesgoal can offer a wide variety of high-quality soccer and sports streams you are not able to find anywhere else online.

How does Hesgoal generally work?

When you visit Hesgoal you will usually see three columns; the left column will show you all the ongoing broadcasts you can watch on Hesgoal which is probably what you are most interested in. The second and middle column usually features recent news across many sports. Lastly, the rightest column features Hesgoal infamous chat box as well as some general advertising. If you find the navigation and user interface confusing you can also try to find broadcasts directly in Google using the site:Hesgoal.com directive. E.g., if you want to see if there are any broadcasts for the games Manchester city vs Liverpool in Hesgoal you can do so using the syntax "site:hesgoal.com stream Manchester city – Liverpool" as search query in Google.

Do I need to be concerned with catching a virus when using Hesgoal?

No. When you visit Hesgoal.com you quickly will notice that the site has a quite official look and feel unlike other pirate sports and soccer streaming sites online like Rojadirecta, Yallo Shoot, Pirlo TV or Futbol Libre. The site does show a lot of advertising but there is no risk of catching a virus on the site itself. Please proceed with caution when engaging with advertising partners and them offering downloads of software that could contain malicious code. In general, if you only view video content through you preferred browser like Firefox, Chrome, or Safari you do not need to be overly concerned with the risk of a virus on your computer laptop, or mobile device.

In general, if you only view video content through you preferred browser like Firefox, Chrome, or Safari you do not need to be overly concerned with the risk of a virus on your computer laptop, or mobile device.

Do I need to download anything to watch soccer and sports stream ion Hesgoal?

Unlike in the early stages of the internet, there is no longer a need to download any software like video player software to watch soccer and sports streams on Hesgoal. Instead, the site is using a technology called video streaming (over progressive download) which works in a way where it only transfers the most relevant data about the video stream at a certain time to your device instead of the whole video and in this case soccer game. This is favorable to the user in a way where less data needs to be transferred but a high video quality is still enabled even in scenarios where you connection may not be as strong e.g., when you are on a mobile device. In fact, every time your browser would prompt you to download any software when engaging with Hesgoal, you should be very cautious. Usually there is only two scenarios for that to occur: one, you are downloading some software of an advertising partner that may contain malicious code such as Spyware or a virus. And second, if there is an expectation for the user to re-share the video signal with other users using a technology called peer-to-peer or P2P. The second comes with a legal risk based on your local regulations and is not recommended.

Is Hesgoal legal?

In fact, Hesgoal is fully legal in context of its operating country Netherlands. Company has official offices in the center of Amsterdam and operates just as any other Dutch company with staff and management. If you as an end user must be concerned about any legal implications of consuming content and video from Hesgoal is up to your local regulations. We advise you consult with a legal expert familiar with local regulations to get an educated answer.

What sports are show on Hesgoal?

Hesgoal is truly a multi-sport and event destination for sports fans around the world. Naturally, soccer is the most popular sport for which the site is offering up streams to leagues and competitions around the world. However, other popular sports events the site broadcasts are Formula 1, Boxing, MMA and similar. Popular American soccer leagues in the United States such as Major League Soccer, USL Championship and U.S. Open Cup are also available.

What soccer leagues are show on Hesgoal?

In general, you can assume all international soccer leagues are broadcasted on Hesgoal. However, in late 2022 there has been some news about Hesgoal stopping the broadcasting of the CONCACAF Champions League as you can see here. If you follow the press around this announcement, you can speculate that the political and corporate pressure on Hesgoal was too high to give free access to the most popular local soccer competition the CONCACAF Champions League and the Hesgoal team decided it is not worth fighting the battle. If the Champions League will be shown in the future on Hesgoal is yet to be seen. However, all matches of the highly debated FIFA World Cup in Qatar 2022 are shown on Hesgoal. Other popular leagues include matches of the Premier League, Ligue Une, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Serie A.

Is Hesgoal free?

The use of Hesgoal and consuming sports and soccer streams is indeed entirely free. The site monetizes its global audience and high-volume traffic through contextual ads that are shown as tiles around the video player on the website. If you however watch a video stream to a soccer game in full screen mode, you will not see any advertising.

The use of Hesgoal and consuming sports and soccer streams is indeed entirely free.

Does Hesgoal show the CONCACAF Gold Cup?

Right now, it needs to be seen if the Hesgoal website will be back up and running to show games of the prestigious CONCACAF Gold Cup competition. One way or the other we hope the American national team will do well.

What languages is Hesgoal available in?

Because the site syndicates sports and soccer broadcasts from all over the world, the language used by a game's commentator can vary. Usually, Hesgoal gives its user a clear indication as part of the hyperlink for a sports event and soccer match that allows the user to choose a soccer stream in their local language or alternatively a language, they are familiar in. The language indication of a stream usually also signifies from what country and legislation the underlying broadcast is shown. Just looking at public data and the traffic profile of Hesgoal.com, most of its users are English speaking originating from the United Kingdom or USA, with Spain and Spanish, France and French, and Germany and German beyond also popular audiences and languages.

Are streams on Hesgoal usually high quality and HD?

One thing because Hesgoal is a very popular destination for soccer fans is that the quality and reliability of streams on Hesgoal is usually higher than on other sites like Rojadirecta, PirloTV, Live TV SX or similar. If you are not able to receive a strong connection or high quality of the stream ensure that 1/ you are connected to the internet; ideally through a network cable rather than WIFI 2/ make sure no other applications, devices or websites are using bandwidth from your connection; this could be e.g. an iPad on the same internet connection being connected to Netflix and streaming your favorite TV show; 3/ in case you still experience issues turn to social media sites like Twitter or Reddit and search for Hesgoal and see if other users recently have expressed similar problems; if that is the case the site may be overloaded or facing other infrastructure issues out of your control and it is most advisable to stay patient and see if the situation resolved itself over time

I really miss Hesgoal very easy access.— Tilewa_ (@Tilewa_A) December 29, 2022

What does Hesgoal stand for?

Hesgoal is what is called a branding name. At the time of writing of this article it can only be speculated what the name stands for. Goal is naturally a soccer reference, the most popular sport watched on the platform. The prefix Hes could refer to the male possessive pronoun. In Dutch — the home country of the operators of the site — there isn't really a word like Hes that would give it an alternative meaning. Know that we often see users looking for Hesgoal using two further spellings: Hesgoals (plural) or hes goal (two words). However usually search engines like Google and Bing are sophisticated enough to understand the original search intent of the user being the Hesgoal site with the correct spelling of the brand name.

Should I be using a VPN when using Hesgoal?

Users of any sports or soccer streaming website may ask themselves if it is advisable to use a so called Virtual Private Network when visiting Hesgoal.com. And in fact, VPNs are an effective tool in reducing the amount of personal identifiable information (PII) when using the internet in general. If you decide to use a VPN when using Hesgoal you should assume a certain performance degradation to the speed and quality the website and potential video content loads with. The reason for that is that in a VPN content, the data is always funneled through a virtual private network before it sends it out and receives it back from the world wide web (WWW). You as an internet user in this scenario are not recognized by any website like Hesgoal with your original ISP connection or IP address (an address in number format identifying you as a user of the world wide web). Instead, it is only able to capture generic information about your VPN provider which usually is curated with care and kept very sparse. This means that if there would be ever an investigation in the data stored on the servers running the Hesgoal side it would not be possible to detect you directly as a past user of the site. However, information about your browsing history usually is still maintained at the VPN provider company and in the past, there have been press releases about those companies having lacked proper security and confidentiality controls. Hence, if using a VPN provider fir Hesgoal is your preference, it is recommended to use an established provider like Surfshark or similar with sufficient security and data storage policies in place.

How old is Hesgoal?

According to the internet web archive the first launch of hesgoal.com dates to November 2016. Interestingly enough, the classic layout and design of the site has not changed all that much since then. As they say, never change a winning team!

According to the internet web archive the first launch of hesgoal.com dates to November 2016.

Is Hesgoal down or offline now?

It can happen for Hesgoal to be temporarily unavailable; this could be both cause by the site operators experiencing issues with their website infrastructure or your internet provider limiting access to the website. The best advice is to try to access the site 30 minutes later and see if the issue has been resolved or to search on real-time social media sites like Twitter if other users are experiencing the same problems. Likely in the latter scenario the same users will likely also be able to recommend alternative sites.

Does Hesgoal work on mobile phones?

Like most streaming websites Hesgoal is not really optimized for mobile phones. That means that there isn't a bespoke adaptive or fluid design available on mobile devices. With that text can become a bit harder to read and using zooming techniques may be required. It can be assumed that most visitors of Hesgoal use the site on desktop devices for a better, large screen viewing experience and that that is the reason why a mobile experience has not been implemented yet. All of that said, technically there is no limitation to using the site on a mobile device. Based on your device type, operating system, and bandwidth, however your ability to play and watch broadcasts may be either entirely impossible or its viewing experience compromised.

What languages is Hesgoal available in?

Hesgoal is exclusively available in the English language. That said, the sports it covers range worldwide. From cricket in India, to the soc er world cup in Qatar, to the English Premier League — most of the events of these competitions are available on Hesgoal.

Can I still watch the CONCACAF Champions League on Hesgoal?

Recently since the fourth quarter of 2022 it has been not possible anymore to watch CONCACAF Champions League games on Hesgoal. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide and update if the competition becomes available again.

Does Hesgoal have a mobile app to download from the app store?

At the time of writing this article Hesgoal is not available as a mobile app.

What are the most popular soccer teams in the United States that are shown on Hesgoal?

While popularity is always somewhat subjective traffic statistics show that the most popular soccer teams from the United States shown on Hesgoal are LA Galaxy, New York RB and Los Angeles FC. This is as of January 2023.

Is Hesgoal now available under a new domain or URL?

At the point of writing this article there are many domains that are impersonating the original Hesgoal portal by naming their domain in the same or similar manner but with a different domain suffix. However, none of this appear to be operated by the original Hesgoal company or share similar content or design for that matter.

What are the best alternative websites to Hesgoal?

Other popular destinations include the Spanish website Roja Directa, Pirlo TV, and Tarjeta Roja, Elitegol, the Russian originated website Live TV SX, the French websites Streamonsport and Channelstream, the Brazilian originated websites Multicanais, Futemax, and Futebol Play HD, a site popular in Latin America called Futbol Libre as well as the US destination Reddit soccer streams.

Why was Hesgoal shut down by the FBI?

Not a lot of public information is available about why the Hesgoal domain and offering has been ceased by the FBI. However, usually the US authorities get involved when there are copyright infringements for sports popular in the US such as American Football (NFL), Baseball (MLS), Basketball (NBA), Ice Hockey (NHL), Boxing or MMA UFC. Hesgoal did include these sports into their streaming offer representing an alternative view to the US authorities on how copyright regulations apply to a site operated out of the Netherlands. Hesgoal also had ongoing disputes with British media company Sky around its offering for the English Premier League as well as the CONCACAF Champions League.

What sports and leagues are shown on Hesgoal?

At the time of writing there is a very broad scale of sports being supported by Hesgoal. The most popular sports include Soccer, Basketball, Boxing, MMA, American Football, Hockey and general sports events like the Olympics.

Does Hesgoal have the legal rights to show streams?

The legal landscape around broadcasting rights and how they apply online as well across international territories is highly complex and something that is constantly evolving and changing. With that there is no clear black and white answer if or if not Hesgoal was violating any copyrights through its offering. That said you will likely find broadcast from TV channels in the United States on the site including ESPN, Fox Sports, NBC Sports, CBS Sports.

Do I need to register to use Hesgoal?

You do not have to register to use the Hesgoal site. However, there is a member function which gives you then access to features such as commenting and chat participation.

Is it free to use Hesgoal?

Hesgoal is indeed free to use and without charge. The site is leveraging advertising means to monetize its offering and recoup operating costs for servers, staff, maintenance, and content publishing.

What are the risks when using Hesgoal?

Unlike other streaming sites Hesgoal is relatively free of dubious advertising and on first view does not include any exposure risk to spyware. Nevertheless, when using these offerings, it is always recommended to make sure you are using a VPN provider and connection to ensure your privacy and also have an active and updated antivirus service or software running on your computer or handheld device.

What can I do when Hesgoal is offline or not working?

It is not uncommon for streaming websites like Hesgoal to become unavailable, be temporary offline, or vanish from search results. Additionally based on your country of origin as well as ISP provider you simply may not have access to the site or be able to access any of its embedded streaming offerings. In those scenarios it is our recommendation to initially use real-time social media channels such as Twitter to identify if other users in the world are experiencing similar issue or it may be isolated to you. Next to that we recommend using popular search engines to look for alternative sites or search directly for the stream in question to find alternatives. It also is worth to retry access after a few minutes as well as test access on a different setup you may have access to. This could include using a different browser to access the site, use a VPN connection, test on a completely separated device or connection (i.e., using your cell phone with cellular data vs your home network).

What legal consequences can I face in my country when using Hesgoal?

A comprehensive international legal analysis of the if any legal consequences you may be exposed to as a user of the site Hesgoal is beyond the scope of this article. Local regulations vary vastly and are constantly evolving. We recommend that you perform your own research in your country of origin and always apply best practices in ensuring the integrity of your privacy by using a VPN provider and connection in general.

Which site is best positioned to replace Hesgoal?

Simply judging by online traffic, the Spanish site Roja Directa is currently closest to Hesgoal in terms of popularity. Unlike Hesgoal, Roja Directa and its affiliated websites have been present on the internet for a significantly longer time.

What countries is Hesgoal most popular in?

According to the digital intelligence platform SEMRush Hesgoal has received the most traffic from countries including the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and Italy.