Where to Watch the FIFA World Cup for Free
The Intrepid Museum, The Whitney Museum, and local bars and restaurants will host free watch parties for the 2026 World Cup. The Great Lawn in Central Park will host 50,000 people for the championship game July 19.
| 13 Jun 2026 | 06:05
Futbol fans piled into Times Square on Friday, June 12 to watch FIFA World Cup games where the USA Men’s National Team beat Paraguay 4 to 1. (
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Fifth watch parties will be held on the Intrepid museum throughout the 2026 World Cup. (
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Governor Kathy Hochul, Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Mayor Zohran Mamdani opened a mini-soccer pitch at Tavern on the Green in Central Park that will offer free drop in events open to all through July 18. (
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Soccer fans looking to watch the 2026 World Cup this year without breaking the bank are in luck. The Intrepid Museum, The Whitney Museum, and literally hundreds of local bars and restaurants are all hosting cheap or even free watch parties for the crowds to come for the 2026 World Cup.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the city’s borough presidents unveiled a new roster of more than 100 free watch parties, which will be capped by a massive 50,000 person screening for the final in Central Park.
The Intrepid Museum will host free public watch parties for more than 50 World Cup matches on Pier 86 through July 19. It kicked off with the FIFA World Cup match between Mexico and South Africa on Thursday, June 11. Multiple large screens will be set up between towers two and three on the Pier, with food, beverages, and merchandise available for purchase. The Final on July 19 will be held at Met Life Stadium which has been renamed NYNJ Stadium while the World Cup is on.
The Whitney Museum, which routinely offers free Friday night admission, will be adding World Cup programming to the mix. This will be running from June 13-17th. Visit Frenchette Bakery, located just inside the museum, for the opportunity to drink draft beers or cold-brew iced coffee, served in limited-edition souvenir cups for $26 throughout World Cup 2026.
Restaurants and bars will also be turning on their tvs and grills in celebration of this event. Sadie’s, a bar located on 19 Fulton Street in Tribeca, will be showing the USA vs. Australia World Cup match on its 18-foot outdoor LED screen. There will be a live DJ, $10 spritz happy hour (3-6 p.m.), an outdoor grill, and complimentary Heineken. Greywind, which serves traditional American cuisine, will televise every match live in the bar room. There will be cheeseburger sliders and a choice of local beer for $26, available Monday-Friday, 4–6 p.m. during Happy Hour. With purchases, customers will receive a limited-edition commemorative souvenir cup.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the city’s borough presidents unveiled a new roster of more than 100 free watch parties, capped by a massive 50,000 person screening on the Great Lawn in Central Park for the final. The gates will open at noon for the 3 p.m. match.
And there are literally hundreds of pubs and restaurants in Manhattan, with a concentration in Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen where the matches will be shown on screens inside the bars, even though a bid to extend it to outdoor drinking areas stalled in the state legislature in Albany. For a complete list of Manhattan pubs, check out nyctourism.com/worldcup26/.
And for those who might want to partake in the beautiful game, there is a FIFA soccer pitch next to Tavern on the Green in Central Park that will offer clinics and open pitch event throught the tournament starting at 10 a.m. No advance registration is necessary. Drop by and join a game. Or check out the scheduled events that include June 20: Youth Skills Academy (ages 6 to 14), 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.: June 27: Neighborhood Cup, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and open play weekend on July 4 among other activities. It wraps with a July 18 closing celebration, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. For the full schedule, check out: centralpark.com/events/fifa-arena-central-park/