The Best Bars to Watch the World Cup 2026 in New York

New York does not have a World Cup match on home soil. It has eight of them.

MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford — a train ride and a change at Secaucus from Midtown — is the tournament's marquee venue, hosting five group stage fixtures, a Round of 32 tie, a Round of 16 tie, and the World Cup Final on July 19. The crowd that fills those stands will largely come from this city. And the crowd that can't get a ticket — which is most of us — will be watching from a barstool somewhere across the five boroughs, drink in hand, pretending they're fine with it.

Before we get to the bars: if you can get a ticket, go. The commute from Penn Station is NJ Transit to Secaucus Junction, changing there for the Meadowlands line — no parking nightmare, though on match days the round trip costs $150 and has to be bought in advance in the NJ Transit app. Hotels in Midtown Manhattan with Penn Station access are your best bet for the full experience.

Find hotels near MetLife Stadium →

For everyone else, here is where the city watches.

The Map

Four fan homes across Manhattan and Brooklyn, all on GoalPost's fan home network. Click any pin for details.

Smithfield Hall — The Flagship

If you want the full experience — giant screens wall to wall, a beer garden when the weather cooperates — Smithfield Hall is the answer. It is the closest thing New York has to a dedicated soccer cathedral. The screens are genuinely impressive. The sound system actually works. The crowd knows the game.

Book ahead. They do not take reservations for big matches, which means the line forms before sunrise for USMNT fixtures and anything from the knockout stage onward.

Football Factory at Legends — Times Square Without the Tourists

Do not underestimate the mixed-group market during a home World Cup. Football Factory at Legends handles it better than anywhere else in the city — the location is findable, the screens are everywhere, and the bar service holds up under pressure. For the USMNT group stage, this will be a scene.

O'Hanlon's — The Believers

An Arsenal house by heritage, but during the World Cup the allegiances expand. It sells out fast for meaningful fixtures. Go early, find a seat, do not give it up.

Brooklyn

The boroughs deserve their own mention.

A Note on the City Itself

New York's soccer culture has changed. The dedicated supporter culture is real, distributed across the boroughs, and it shows up. During the 2022 cycle, these rooms filled before dawn for every USMNT fixture. This summer, with the tournament forty minutes from Midtown, the energy will be something else entirely.

The venues listed here are on GoalPost's fan home network, each with a page of its own. In a city this size, the list is never finished. But these are the ones that matter.

World Cup 2026 group stage runs 11 June – 27 June. MetLife Stadium hosts its first match on 13 June — Brazil vs Morocco. Full schedule at /world-cup.

Correction, October 4, 2026: this guide first said MetLife Stadium would host seven World Cup matches. It hosted eight, the Final among them.

Update, October 4, 2026: two of the guide's bars are gone from it. Woodwork in Prospect Heights closed (its premises have been licensed to Bilt Bar since September 2025), and no Fleet Street Pub could be found at 21 W 17th St or anywhere in New York. "Legends" is Football Factory at Legends. O'Hanlon's, home of Arsenal NYC, is at 349 E 14th St in the East Village, not in Midtown, and Banter Bar is the home of the Brooklyn Spurs, Tottenham's supporters' club, not a Liverpool bar.

Correction, October 5, 2026: this guide also said MetLife Stadium was eleven minutes from Midtown on NJ Transit, with trains every twenty minutes. The trip from Penn Station involves a change at Secaucus Junction, and on match days NJ Transit charged $150 for the round trip, bought in advance. After the October 4 correction the body still said seven matches; it now says eight, the round of 16 match on July 5 among them.