Where to watch the 2026 World Cup around Boston

Didn’t shell out a mortgage payment to see the World Cup in person? You can still watch the games shoulder to shoulder with fellow soccer fans in Boston.

From big public watch parties to tried-and-true soccer bars, the Boston area is going all out — pressing, to put it in soccer terms — for the tournament's return to North America for the first time in more than three decades.

Even if you're not trekking down to Foxborough, here's a look at your options to get in on the action.

Where is it?

FIFA’s official fan fest will be in downtown Boston at City Hall Plaza, “right outside the most beautiful building in the city,” as Mayor Michelle Wu recently said. (Why are you laughing?)

What is it?

Basically, it's a big outdoor watch party for World Cup games.  Leaders of Boston 26, the local World Cup organizing committee, say it will have live broadcasts on a massive screen of two to three matches a day during the tournament's group stage. (That includes matches happening across the U.S., Canada and Mexico, not just the games at “Boston Stadium” in Foxborough.)

The fan fest will also have food and World Cup merch for sale. And in between the matches, organizers are planning to put on a cultural showcase of local talent with live music and other entertainment.

When is it?

The festival will run for 16 consecutive days during the tournament’s group stage: June 12 to June 27. A spokesperson for Boston 26 also confirmed that it won’t run during the elimination stage, when there are fewer games each day.

The general hours of operation will run from early afternoon to after dark. Here’s a look at the daily schedule (subject to change):

How to attend:

Unlike some fan fests in other parts of the country, admission to Boston's World Cup fan fest will be free. However, organizers say attendees will be required to register in advance. Keep an eye on this website for registration details.

How to get there:

Festival organizers strongly encourage taking public transit. Fortunately, City Hall Plaza is literally steps from two MBTA stations: Government Center (Green Line and Blue Line) and State (Orange Line and Blue Line). The T’s Park Street station, which serves the Red Line, is 0.3 miles away. And if you’re staying downtown, Boston is very walkable (and bikable). If you’re farther away and need to drive, check out this website for info on downtown garages and metered parking.

The official fan fest isn’t the only party in town. If you don’t want to trek downtown Boston, many other Greater Boston cities are planning watch parties of their won.

Across the river, Cambridge is planning outdoor watch parties, located in different neighborhoods, for all seven of the games at Foxborough. The series promises free food, activities and, in some cases, a night market. The June 26 watch party for the star-studded France-Norway game will also lead into Cambridge’s annual outdoor dance party in Central Square.

Click here for details. Here’s an overview of the schedule and locations:

Meanwhile in Chelsea, organizers are planning what they believe is the state's only public watch party with a Spanish-only broadcast.

The city's Fiesta de Fútbol will turn Chelsea Square into a "a vibrant outdoor gathering space" with Telemundo's broadcast on the big screen. There'll also be food vendors, live music, and community programming that celebrates the cultures and traditions of Chelsea, where two-thirds of the residents identify as Latino or Hispanic, according to census data.

" Our hope is for people to come to a safe place, to enjoy Chelsea, to have a positive experience of what Chelsea has become," said Omar Miranda, a co-organizer of the event. "It's such a great place to come and enjoy Latino culture, the food, the vibes."

The fiesta kicks off with the World Cup's opening match on June 11 and will run "the duration of the tournament," according to the city's website. Officials said a complete schedule is expected to be announced by the third week of May.

Revere is planning a slate of free public watch parties for big matches like the World Cup final and semifinals, as well as group stage games involving the U.S., Morocco and Colombia. (The Moroccan and Colombian communities are each estimated to make up about 10% of Revere’s population.)

Revere's watch parties will rotate from four different locations: Waterfront Square by Revere Beach (by the Wonderland MBTA stop); The Yard at Suffolk Downs, the Shirley Avenue corridor and downtown at Harry Della Russo Stadium. The schedule is below:

According to the city's website, the free events will include local art, activities and partnerships with local bars, restaurants, and small businesses hosting their own tournament celebrations.

On the outer edges of the I-495 loop, MetroWest Boston Visitors Bureau is planning regional watch parties in Marlborough and Franklin, featuring a big screen, food trucks, beer gardens and more.

Marlbrough will host its watch party on the World Cup's opening weekend, June 11-13, at Kelleher Field. The event is free, but attendees are required to register online ahead of time.

Franklin's will follow two weeks later on June 24-25 as the group stage closes out on Franklin Town Common and Hayward Manor. No registration is required.

Massachusetts' second-largest city is planning a total of nine World Cup watch parties on Worcester Common, Mayor Joe Petty announced earlier this spring on social media. The full details and date have yet to be announced.

According to the Massachusetts Organization of African Descendants, two of the Worcester Common watch parties will be for the Haiti vs. Scotland match on June 13 and the England vs. Ghana match on June 23 (both of which are being played in Foxborough). While the Ghanian team will be based in Providence, the city of Worcester has declared itself a "host city" for Ghana fans.

The city of Everett is planning a single watch party at Everett Veterans Memorial Stadium, thanks to a $10,000 state grant. The date has yet to be announced.

Brockton, Burlington, Easthampton, Greenfield, Lexington, Lowell and Weymouth are also among the Massachusetts communities that have received grants to host World Cup watch parties.

The city of Boston is beefing up its summer block party grants so that residents can host their own World Cup watch party with their neighbors. You can get up to $750 for food, (nonalcoholic) drinks, lawn games and other setup costs.

Officials recommend applying at least 30 days ahead of time and the final deadline to apply is June 8. Click here for more details on the process and requirements.

Listen, most local sports bars and Irish pubs will likely have the games on TV — it’s the World Cup, after all. But if you want to make sure the games are on the big screen with sound, check out our list of Greater Boston's top tried-and-true soccer bars.

Here are a few highlights:

For the USMNT diehard: Head over The Banshee in Dorchester. It's home to the Boston branch of the American Outlaws, the official U.S. national team supporters club (as well as a dozen other supporters clubs). So you'll no doubt find fellow enthusiastic soccer fans sporting red, white and blue.

For the hungry fan: Several names on our list have earned plaudits for elevating your typical pub fare. But it was McGonagle's Pub that landed a shoutout in last year's New York Times list of the best 50 restaurants in the country.

For international fanfare: The Haven, a Scottish bar in Jamaica Plain, is planning a three-day football festival for the World Cup's opening weekend. With Scotland playing two games in Foxborough, the bar plans to be home base for the Tartan Army.

For the craft beer snob: It's not just Guinness and Irish (and Scottish) pubs. JP's Drawdown Brewing has the games on tap — plus micro-brewed IPAs, altbiers and a flagship cream ale you won't find at the other bars.

In total, there are 104 World Cup matches on the schedule. They'll all be broadcast on either FOX (locally branded as Fox 25, Channel 25 or WFXT) or FOX Sports/FS1. See the full English-language TV schedule here.

Meanwhile, Comcast has the Spanish-language broadcast rights — in case you want Andrés Cantor's famous "GOOOOOOOOOL!" calls. All 104 matches will be streamed live in Spanish on Peacock. Telemundo will also broadcast 92 matches in Spanish, while the other 12 are on Universo.

A nice perk of hosting the tournament locally for North American soccer fans — many of whom are accustomed to waking up early on the weekends or tuning in during work hours to catch the top club-level matches — is that more than a third of this year's World Cup matches will occur during the primetime window.

WBUR's Dan Guzman contributed reporting to this story.