BBC apologises after world feed cuts Scotland vs Haiti broadcast mid-match

A technical fault cut BBC’s live broadcast of Scotland’s World Cup group opener against Haiti in Boston mid-match on Friday, forcing the broadcaster to apologise to viewers after a world feed failure briefly blacked out coverage.

The disruption occurred midway through the first half, with screens displaying an ‘ESF USD C’ error message for approximately five seconds before the picture returned. Because the fault originated with the world feed rather than the BBC’s own systems, viewers across the globe — not just in the United Kingdom — experienced the same interruption.

Commentator Liam McLeod addressed the issue on air: “Apologies again if there’s a loss of picture, it’s a World Feed problem so everyone suffered it. But you’re back with us now.” A separate on-screen message read: “Sorry for the loss of picture.”

The BBC confirmed no incidents were missed during the brief outage, though the timing will have done little to settle the nerves of Scotland supporters watching outside the stadium in Massachusetts. The Tartan Army had already endured an anxious opening exchange against Haiti, who are ranked 83rd in the world by FIFA.