Central Park's Great Lawn will host 50,000 for free World Cup Final watch party on July 19
The FIFA World Cup 2026 starts this week, and this coming Saturday will be the first match held at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Saturday's match will be Brazil vs. Morocco, and will mark the first test of an elaborate plan for transporting fans from New York City to MetLife and back.
As the world gets ready to watch the beautiful game, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul made the announcement of a World Cup final watch party in the city.
"Can you just feel it in the air?"
Hochul announced Central Park's Great Lawn will host the largest watch party for the World Cup Final on July 19. Some 50,000 tickets for the Great Lawn watch party will be available, and for free. They'll be distributed through Global Citizen, Hochul said. The tickets will be available starting Thursday at 10 a.m.
"Can you just feel it in the air, everybody? There's something different. OK, it's not just the Knicks, I get it. It's not just the Knicks - it is the Knicks - but everybody is so alive, and so excited. I was just on the subway the other day, and you know what? People are talking to each other. This is earth shaking. And they're sharing stories, and talking about someone's socks that say FIFA, and somebody else's hats that says the Knicks. I can just feel the electricity," Hochul said.
Hochul said more than a million people from all over the world are expected to come to the New York region for the World Cup.
"This is a dream come true"
"We want them to share in the sheer joy of this, especially July 19, with the FIFA World Cup Final. So we together are here to announce that we're having the largest watch party, the biggest match in the world ... right here in Central Park," Hochul said. "And guess what the price tag is? It's free."
Some 50,000 people will be in attendance.
Hochul said there will be large screens, immersive sound, DJs, food vendors and more at the event.
Free tickets will be available via a lottery on GlobalCitizen.org as of Thursday at 11 a.m. Some 10,000 tickets will be set aside for youth soccer groups, community organizations and nonprofits.
"For a soccer mom like me ... this is a dream come true," Hochul said.
"We will make this viewing party 100% free"
"When the World Cup Final kicks off on July 19, just a few miles from here, New York City will host a free watch party for 50,000 New Yorkers on the Great Lawn. The most iconic match of the most iconic tournament in the world deserves to be watched in the most iconic park in the world, with the most iconic skyline as its backdrop," Mamdani said. "In a moment when sports experiences and the memories they create have grown increasingly unattainable for working people, we will make this viewing party 100% free, and you will need not spend thousands of dollars to watch the final alongside your fellow New Yorkers."
The mayor said the decision to set aside 10,000 of the free tickets for nonprofits and community organizations is "but one of a larger effort to make the World Cup belong to every New Yorker."
