The World Cup came to North America this year, bringing some much needed cross-cultural celebration to the melting pot of the world. And of course, we saw lots of this hype coming from the East Coast, concluding with the World Cup Final in New York. As the event draws to a close, we’re looking back on the city’s hottest games to prepare you for the even hotter finale.
The Games So Far
New York has hosted 7 World Cup games so far. On June 13th, Brazil opened the Cup in a faceoff against Morocco, ending in a tie showcasing both teams’ formidability. Brazilian and Moroccan visitors later got to join in on some uniquely New York festivities as the Knicks claimed their legendary championship win that night. Both France and Norway faced off against Senegal , and would both make their return to New York in the knockout stages against Sweden and Brazil respectively, claiming victory against both. Of the ten teams that played in New York, those two, alongside Morocco and England, are the only ones remaining in the cup as of the Quarterfinals. The Quarterfinal matchups are:
France v. Morocco, July 9th
Spain v. Belgium, July 10th
Norway v. England, July 11th
Argentina v. Switzerland, July 11th
The winners of France v. Morocco and Spain v. Belgium will have their semifinals match July 14th, and the next day the winners of Norway v. England and
Argentina v. Switzerland will face each other before bringing it home to the World Cup Finals in New York on July 19th.
How to Enjoy the Finals
New York knows how to celebrate, so of course fan events can be found across the city. In Manhattan, Rockefeller Plaza hosts a Fan Village in the center of the city, transforming the skating rink into an active soccer pitch, accessible from 10 a.m. every day through the finals. You don’t have to be in playing shape to pull up, as they also broadcast the live games. Brooklyn Bridge Park has a fan center as well from 12 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. For the night owls, there are nightly pickup games across the five boroughs from now until June 18th, the night before the World Cup Finals. On the day of the finals, Central Park will be holding a free watch party, however there is a ticketed lottery.
And the end of the World Cup doesn’t mean the end of celebrating our neighbors around the world. New York is known for being home to an extremely diverse immigrant population, with ethnic enclaves in every borough. If you want to support a country that appeared in the cup this year, check out Queens’ Roosevelt Avenue for Little Colombia and Ecuador, the Mexican community of Puebla York in Sunset Park, or 116th Street in Harlem for Lé Petit Senegal. Regardless of how or where you plan on celebrating the world’s biggest soccer event, the city will be celebrating with you in every corner.
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