Forgtmenot. Photo: Jesse Ilan Kornbluth
The World Cup is here, which makes it the perfect time to survey this city’s many excellent bars for diehard fans and casual viewers alike. (If you are looking for bars and restaurants affiliated with specific teams in this year’s World Cup, you can find that here.) We scoured the boroughs to come up with this list of spots that run the gamut from low-key dives and Irish pubs up to full-blown multi-level football epicenters.
132 Havemeyer St., Williamsburg; banterbrooklyn.com
A just-right soccer pub: The bar trots out some of the usual tropes — flags, foosball — without tipping over into Epcot-like artifice. The menu is filled with sausage platters, and you can order a cuppa PG Tips if you’d like. On nice days, watch games from a TV that can be seen on the street.
Photo: Courtesy of Fancy Free
71 Lafayette Ave., Fort Greene; fancyfreebk.com
Mayor Mamdani confirms this is his favorite spot to watch matches, and it’s not only because of its connection to Arsenal. The corner bar (where Spike Lee is also a regular) has a wide patio and a near-perfect location. Given the club support, expect to find a crowd that favors England (and star Bukayo Saka) and Norway (for club captain Martin Ødegaard).
6 W. 33rd St.; legendsffnyc.com
If you want the massive, multistory, TVs-on-every-inch-and-on-the-streets sports-bar experience, head to midtown. This is the colossus; gaze upon it with horror and delight. Fans from 40-plus clubs lay claim to Football Factory, for better or worse. It’s as big, boisterous, and crowded as it gets.
138 Division St.; instagram.com/138division
Escape the vape-haze ennui of Dimes Square: This longtime low-key downtown favorite was founded by former skaters and surfers. The path from teenage Thrasher sweatshirts to vintage Adidas football kits is well trodden, so the bar always has a nice vibe for soccer — energetic but not overwhelming — and breakfast is served all day.
A Map of Every Place on This List
384 Knickerbocker Ave., Bushwick; instagram.com/lousathleticclub
This isn’t a sports bar: It’s more like a Bushwick dive — it looks like a kid born in 1996 tried to decorate a room in 1977 — that just happens to show sports. This is the spot to go if you have plans to meet up with a friend who’s never heard of, say, Lamine Yamal and doesn’t want to be surrounded by football lunatics.
247 City Island Ave., City Island; manoverboardbar.net
The fish and chips at this small nautical sports bar — a massive octopus mural adorns the back wall — are completely fine. That description applies to much else at Man Overboard, like the drinks and live music. So why would you go all the way to City Island? Because it feels like you’re on a summer vacation, even when you’re just skipping out on work for an afternoon.
Banter Bar. Photo: Jesse Ilan Kornbluth
33-15 Ditmars Blvd., Astoria; rivercrestny.com
This is a sports bar with tons of room to spread out. It’s roughly 3,000 square feet, so even during the most popular matches, you should have room to sit or stand while gnawing on the (slightly) elevated bar menu’s enormous mozzarella sticks.
6004 Eighth Ave., Sunset Park; thesoccerbar.com
A Norwegian flag is flying out front, but that’s a holdover from this establishment’s past life. Soccer Tavern is now an Irish bar in the heart of South Brooklyn Chinatown — a ye olde gem (open as a bar since 1932) with an easy energy and convenient proximity to dim sum at East Harbor Seafood Palace.
46 Norman Ave., Greenpoint; socceria.nyc
The group behind Taqueria Ramírez is building a new full-service cantina — with a menu, per chef Giovanni Cervantes, “full of corn masa, cheese, and eggs.” Official opening day is June 11, the day the tournament kicks off. A 12-foot-wide LED screen and a massive projector have been installed in the 3,500-square-foot space for the occasion.
1048 Bedford Ave., Bedford-Stuyvesant; theswanbk.com
The surprisingly roomy Swan is a properly Irish pub: Live Celtic music isn’t unusual, and even if Ireland just barely missed this year’s tournament, it’s refreshing to hear a Gaelic folk song while watching a free kick. The front is a bar, and the back is set up as a restaurant; both areas have plenty of TVs.
Illustrations by Naomi Otsu
