There are hundreds of FREE watch parties, including for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and winner-take-all World Championship game on July 19, plus restaurant dining deals and more.
Here’s your ultimate guide to FIFA in New York City, to watch your favorite team and be part of the energy, and avoid paying tens of thousands of dollars to attend the game in person. And you also get to avoid the traffic.
Remaining games –
Saturday, June 18 – 5pm, France vs. England at Miami Stadium
Sunday, June 19 – 3pm, Spain vs. Argentina at New York/New Jersey Stadium
Final Game Attendee Alert
President Trump plans to attend the final game, departing from his Trump Tower triplex on Fifth Avenue and 57th St.
That means traffic gridlock between Trump Tower and the stadium for his motorcade.
It also means attendees with tickets should plan to arrive by 1:30pm, at least 90 minutes before start time, for the additional security required to attend an event which the President also is attending.
July 19 – The biggest FREE watch party of them all is in Central Park, on the Great Lawn, with room for 50,000 of your closest friends, for the World Cup final game.
It’s sponsored by Global Citizen, which also stages the biggest free concert of the season, with bonafide superstars like Shakira.
Sign up for tickets – they are free, but no ticket, no admission.
Set in the heart of Central Park, the watch party will transform the Great Lawn into a world-class outdoor viewing experience, featuring three giant LED screens, various interactive partner activations, and immersive sound throughout the venue.
Entertainment programming featuring local NYC DJs from iHeartRadio will keep the crowd energized throughout the day.
The watch party includes the star-stuldded half-time show, featuring Shakira, Madonna and BDS.
You need a ticket to attend. No ticket, no admission.
Sign-ups are underway now, as a lottery.
FREE Watch Parties at Lincoln Center
Register for a free Soccer Watch Party Pass or show your Lincoln Center Member ID card to access any of the 8 Soccer Watch Parties at Lincoln Center, July 9-19.
Entry is first come, first served and is not guaranteed.
FIFA World Cup 26™️ matches are being shown on a gi-normous screen, outdoors at Lincoln Center’s Hearst Plaza.
Lincoln Center will provide high-fidelity headphones to borrow for the duration of the event; the sound will not be amplified. Personal headphones will not be usable.
The Soccer Watch Party Pass or a Lincoln Center Member ID card is required for entry to Soccer Watch Parties.
- Register in advance online to save time at the entrance.
In-person registration is also available on campus at the entrance to Hearst Plaza. Once you’ve registered, the Pass is valid for all 8 Soccer Watch Parties, subject to availability.
The Pass is valid for one adult plus up to 3 minors accompanying them.
Lincoln Center Members: Show your digital Member ID card at the entrance for access to any of these events, subject to availability. The Member ID card is valid for two adults plus up to 3 minors accompanying them.
If you haven’t already, download your digital Member ID card to your mobile wallet for easy access.
- Click here for instructions or contact membership@lincolncenter.org for help.
Entrance: The event entrance is on the South side of Hearst Plaza between The Metropolitan Opera House and Barclays Grove. Ticket gates open generally 45 minutes before the event starts.
For guests unable to stand in line due to a disability, please arrive 30 minutes before the venue opens and check in at the entrance with the Guest Experience staff wearing blue shirts
With tickets as much as $2 Million, commuter trains between NYC and Met Stadium in New Jersey $100 or more each way, no on-site parking, it’s good to know that NYC’s mayor and NY State’s governor have our backs, and have organized FREE places in NYC to watch the games in gi-normous screens.
There’s at least one FREE location in each of NYC’s five boroughs, and each one also offers local food vendors and more.
- Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens from June 11-27,
- Rockefeller Center in Manhattan from July 6-19,
- Bronx Terminal Market from June 13-14,
- Staten Island University Hospital Community Park from June 29-July 2, and
- Brooklyn Bridge Park from June 13-19.
Also, The Staten Island Ferry Hawks baseball stadium will be converted into a fan zone where as many as 10,000 people can watch the matches on a big screen and share the excitement without having to shell out big bucks to go to MetLife Stadium.
Free tickets are on a first come, first serve bases on the FIFA New York New Jersey website,
Also at Rockefeller Center –
The FIFA Museum Presented by Hyundai at 50 Rockefeller Plaza is open June 11 through July 19, offering a FREE exhibition that celebrates nearly a century of FIFA World Cup™ history.
Personal Note – ecoxplorer EvelynKanter visited the exhibit recently – it’s great, with memorabilia from each past World Cup and the chance to take a photo with the golden trophy. I also loved the opportunity to chat with soccer fans from around the world, also exploring the exhibit.
- Admission is free with a reservation, and Top of the Rock ticket holders receive priority access.
The Official FIFA World Cup 2026™ Store at at 45 Rockefeller Plaza on 51st Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
- The store features official tournament merchandise, New York City and New Jersey host city gear, team jerseys, t-shirts, hoodies, hats, scarves, mascot products, accessories, and more.
World Cup viewing events throughout New York State include at Stony Brook University on Long Island beginning June 12 and Kensico Dam Plaza in Valhalla on June 19.
- Tickets are available on ILoveNY.com.
FREE Soccer Sundays in Queens
Through July 19 – Stop by the NYSCI museum for an unforgettable day of soccer with a 30′ Outdoor LED screen, and affordable food and drink curated by the Queens Night Market.
lease note: no umbrellas, outside alcohol, or glass bottles are allowed.
This experience is presented by the Queens Borough President Donovan Richards in partnership with the NYC Mayor’s Office, NYC Tourism + Conventions, Resorts World NYC, the New York Hall of Science, and the Queens Economic Development Corporation.
FREE Watch Parties at the Intrepid
The air, sea and space museum is hosting FREE watch parties on Pier 86.
Note that these are suspended from July 3-8 while the Intrepid participates in Sail4th 250 and hosts three international tall ships and other events for the July 4th weekend.
Watch the Final at a NYC Landmark
Check back, as we continue to add FREE watch parties and other events as we hear about them.
FIFA Schedule in NYC
Eight matches will be played at MetLife Stadium in northern New Jersey, which is being referred to as New York New Jersey Stadium for the tournament.
The schedule consists of five group stage matches, one round-of-32 match, one round-of-16 match and the final.
- June 13: Group stage: Brazil vs. Morocco
- June 16: Group stage: France vs. Senegal
- June 22: Group stage: Norway vs. Senegal
- June 25: Group stage: Ecuador vs. Germany
- June 27: Group stage: Panama vs. England
- June 30: Round of 32
- July 5: Round of 16
- July 19: FIFA World Cup Final
NYC $26 Restaurant Deals for FIFA
Thursday, June 11 through Sunday, July 19 – There will be $26 multi-course restaurant deals at more than 300 NYC restaurants, to encourage FIFA fans and others to eat and drink in NYC’s restaurants and bars.
The program has the ambition of the city’s famous twice-a-year Restaurant Week specials, but this one is even less expensive.
The specials are via the New York City Tourism + Conventions bureau.
Participating restaurants and bars will offer $26 specials is being dubbed Five Boroughs Winners Specials, and can be prix fixe, food and drink combinations, or drink deals.
Participating restaurants include –
- Staten Island brewery
- Kills Boro Brewing Company,
- Harlem comfort food restaurant Red Rooster,
- Rockefeller Center Korean restaurant Naro,
- Jackson Heights Italian restaurant Armondo’s,
- Little Neck Tunisian bistro La Baraka,
- Texas-style barbecue restaurant Morgan’s in Prospect Heights.
ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter is an award-winning journalist with 25+ years of experience as a newspaper and magazine writer, radio & TV news producer & reporter, and author of guidebooks and smartphone apps – all focusing on travel, automotive, the environment and your rights as a consumer.
ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter is President Emeritus of the International Motor Press Assn. (IMPA).
ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter also is a member of the North American Travel Journalists Assn. (NATJA) and the North American Snowsports Journalists Assn. (NASJA).
Contact me at evelyn@ecoxplorer.com.
Copyright (C) Evelyn Kanter
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