New York City During the World Cup
The funny thing about the World Cup is that for one month, everyone becomes a soccer expert.
The guy who couldn’t name three players last Tuesday is suddenly explaining formations. Your friend who hasn’t played soccer since middle school is talking about goal differential. Somebody’s uncle is yelling at a television in a language he doesn’t actually speak. And nowhere does this transformation happen quite like New York.
Because when the World Cup comes around, New York stops feeling like one city and starts feeling like every city at once. Walk through Midtown and you’ll hear Spanish, Portuguese, French, Arabic, and English all within the same block. Restaurants fill with fans wearing jerseys from opposite sides of the world. Strangers become temporary best friends. Entire neighborhoods adopt teams they have absolutely no connection to. For a few weeks, New York’s favorite sport becomes watching other people care deeply about sports.
And honestly? That’s part of the fun.
Whether you’re planning your trip around a match, looking for the best places to catch the action, or simply want to experience the energy that takes over the city, here’s what to know before the World Cup arrives in New York.
Where New York Will Be Watching
To be honest, If New York had an official sport, it probably wouldn’t be soccer. It would be finding the place to be. A television is easy to find, an atmosphere isn’t. The city becomes one giant watch party. You just have to decide which one you’re joining.
Below, a few places around New York where we’d want to be when kickoff rolls around.
Smithfield Hall NYC (138 West 25th Street)
Some people fill out their calendar with weddings, birthdays, and dinner reservations. Smithfield Hall fills theirs out with World Cup matches.
The self-proclaimed “NYC soccer temple” has an entire day-by-day schedule posted for every game from the opening match to the Final, which should tell you everything you need to know about the level of commitment here.
During the tournament, the place becomes a sea of jerseys, flags, and very confident predictions. Goals are celebrated like national holidays. Strangers become teammates. And for ninety minutes, everyone in the room is convinced their country is winning it all. Some places show the World Cup. Smithfield Hall becomes part of it. You come for the match. You leave wondering why you’re suddenly emotionally attached to a country you’ve never visited.
(A huge bonus: when the bar is packed shoulder-to-shoulder, you can order food and drinks directly from your phone, meaning you won’t have to miss a single moment of the action.)
The Football Factory at Legends (6 W. 33rd Street)
Most bars have regulars. Legends has fan bases.
Home to more than 30 supporters groups, The Football Factory at Legends feels less like a sports bar and more like a collection of soccer clubs that all agreed to share the same address.
On any given day, you’ll find fans wearing colors that mean absolutely nothing to the person standing next to them, and everything to the person wearing them. Everyone has a team. Everyone has a story. Everyone has an opinion.
During the World Cup, all of those worlds collide.
The chants get louder. The jerseys multiply. The room becomes a sea of flags and nervous energy, where every goal sparks a celebration somewhere in the crowd.
A rare New York luxury The Football Factory Offers: No reservations required during the World Cup. Just show up.
Drom (85 Avenue A)
Of all the World Cup events happening in New York this summer, Drom might have the coolest concept.
The World Cup is about soccer. But it’s also about culture, national pride, celebration, and millions of people finding reasons to dance in the streets.
Drom understands that. New Yorkers love to say the whole world exists within the city. Drom is proving it.
This summer, the East Village venue is transforming the tournament into the World Cup Music Festival, a concept that feels tailor-made for New York. Matches are screened live, but when the final whistle blows, the experience doesn’t end, it evolves.
A Brazil match rolls seamlessly into live Brazilian music. Mexico into Mariachi. Eastern European teams into Balkan brass bands and DJ sets. The crowd that spent ninety minutes cheering together suddenly finds itself dancing together.
Every night feels like a different country. Different music. Different energy. Different traditions. One evening you’re surrounded by Brazilian rhythms, the next you’re swept into a Balkan dance party. Add themed drinks, country-specific beers, and a room full of fans celebrating their heritage, and it starts to feel less like watching the World Cup and more like traveling through it.
What makes Drom so exciting is that you don’t need to know a single thing about soccer to enjoy it. The tournament becomes the backdrop for something bigger: a celebration of the cultures that make it special in the first place.
Think less sports bar, more global block party.
The World Cup brings the world together. Drom throws it a party.
The Accidental Fan’s Guide
Maybe you’ll admit:
- you don’t know the rules.
- you’re only watching because your roommate cares.
- you’re just there for the drinks.
- Welcome.
The accidental fan is one of the most important characters of every World Cup.
Here’s what you need to know:
- When everyone screams, you scream.
- If someone says “offside,” nod thoughtfully.
- Never ask how much time is left because somehow there is always more.
- And if a penalty shootout starts, congratulations, you are now emotionally invested whether you wanted to be or not.
By the end of the tournament, you’ll have a favorite player, a strong opinion on referees, and absolutely no idea how it happened.
The Best World Cup Activity Isn’t Actually Watching Soccer
Personally I’ve always thought New York’s most entertaining sport was people-watching.
The World Cup just turns everyone into more entertaining characters and adds in a whole new cast of guest stars.
The best people-watching spots in New York aren’t necessarily bars. They’re the places where the entire city seems to pass through. During the World Cup, they become front-row seats to one of the greatest spectacles on earth: people caring deeply about something together.
Bryant Park
Bryant Park is where New York’s office workers briefly remember how to have fun.
Watch office workers transform into sports analysts.
Watch lunch meetings turn into match previews.
During the World Cup, lunch breaks become scouting reports. The guy eating a salad is suddenly explaining tournament scenarios. Someone’s coworker has become emotionally invested in a country they’ve never visited. Someone else is trying to explain the offside rule to somebody politely pretending they understand it.
Washington Square Park
Watch two people wearing the same jersey notice each other from across the park like long-lost relatives.
Street musicians provide the soundtrack. Tourists stop to watch. Students gather around phones streaming matches. Someone is waving a flag. Someone else is arguing about a referee’s decision with a person they met thirty seconds ago.
The best part? Everyone somehow belongs here.
During the World Cup, the park feels like a tiny version of the tournament itself, dozens of countries, languages, and personalities sharing the same space and finding reasons to talk to one another.
The High Line
The High Line might be the only place in New York where people willingly slow down.
It might have some of the best views. Not of the skyline. Of humanity.
During the World Cup, that makes it one of the best observation decks in the city. You’ll pass families in matching jerseys, tourists planning entire afternoons around kickoff times, and fans refreshing score updates every thirty seconds while insisting they’re there for the views.
Walk long enough and you’ll hear three different languages, four different predictions, and at least one person confidently explaining why their country is definitely winning it all.
Central Park
New York’s backyard. If you’re looking for the widest cross-section of humanity possible, Central Park rarely disappoints.
The Great Lawn, Sheep Meadow, and the winding paths in between become unofficial World Cup gathering grounds. Kids organize pickup games and pretend they’re scoring the winning goal in the Final. Friends drape flags over their shoulders like capes and stretch out on blankets debating who will win it all. People spend the afternoon outside simply because the energy in the city feels too good to stay home.
It’s impossible to walk through the park without stumbling into a moment worth remembering.
Because sometimes the best part of the World Cup isn’t the match.
It’s watching New York watch it.
And if you’re lucky, you’ll leave with a few stories of your own.
Your Home Base for the World Cup
The World Cup only comes around every four years.
But the version of New York that comes with it feels even rarer.
Maybe you’ll spend the afternoon at Smithfield Hall. Maybe you’ll end up dancing at Drom. Maybe you’ll find yourself sitting in Bryant Park, watching the city put on a show of its own.
Whatever your version of the World Cup looks like, 6 Columbus places you right in the middle of it.
Close to the action, close to the energy, and close to the stories you’ll still be talking about long after the final whistle.
Because while someone eventually wins the World Cup, the best part is everything that happens during it. And with Columbus Circle, Central Park, and countless World Cup celebrations just outside the door, 6 Columbus makes a pretty good place to start.
