Despite the below-freezing temperatures, soccer fans packed out Father Duffy Square and its iconic ruby-red steps for the U.S. Soccer Federation-hosted 2026 FIFA World Cup Draw watch party in Times Square on Friday.
The host nation’s soccer governing body and the NY/NJ Host Committee collaborated to create a jumbotron for spectators to watch the draw and a hard-court, four-a-side soccer pitch for the event, inviting local New York youth and community teams to compete in a tournament for silverware.
“This is an iconic space for what is going to be the most important milestone of the World Cup until our first match,” Alex Lasry, CEO of the host committee, told amNY. “We want to make sure that we’re taking over New York, and that we’re making sure that we’re part of the fabric and culture.”
The New York Greek Americans won the six-team adult tournament and had their trophy and prizes presented by U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) goalkeeper Matthew Turner and USWNT midfielder Jaedyn Shaw, who recently won the NWSL championship with Gotham FC.
NYCFC’s Matthew Freese was also there to witness the U.S. draw Australia, Paraguay, and one of Türkiye, Romania, Slovakia, and Kosovo — who are still in contention to qualify for the tournament through the European Path C playoffs.
“It was so great to see so much energy, a fantastic atmosphere, and a lot of fans here,” Freese told amNY.
The watch party was free to enter, and hosts Alexis Guerroros and Christina Polanco, the duo that make up The Cooligans show, routinely invited New Yorkers and tourists alike wandering Times Square in.
The comedian duo managed to entice Duncan Stewart and Sean Watson, two Scottish fans who joined the festivities after walking up from a stroll around Central Park. The Tartan Army members were visiting from their native Glasgow and “stopped to have a look at the buzz” and see their country partake in a World Cup draw for the first time in 28 years.
“[The U.S. is] not renowned as a footballing nation or a soccer nation,” Stewart told amNY, “but I appreciate anything that enhances and promotes the game.”
However, they would not be making the trip next summer because it is “prohibitively expensive,” according to Stewart. Besides flight costs for foreign fans who want to watch their team play in the world’s biggest tournament, ticket prices to attend games have soared, driven by FIFA’s dynamic pricing model. According to reporting from The Athletic’s Henry Bushnell, initial prices in October had astonished fans and grew even more by last month, when the second phase of sales began.
Additionally, fans from qualified nations, Iran and Haiti, may not be able to make the trip to North America to see their countries play.
Mehdi Taj, Iran’s soccer federation president, was denied a visa to enter the country along with others from the delegation for the draw, which was held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Iran said it would boycott the draw, but backtracked the night before announcing head coach Ardeshir Ghalehnoy will be in attendance.
The nations are two of 19 countries whose citizens are barred from entering the U.S. for the tournament due to national security concerns.
“We want to make sure that we’re welcoming the world, and it’s why we’re working hand in hand with the World Cup Task Force, to make sure that fans who want to be a part of it can be here,” Lasry said. “We’ve also got to make sure that security is taken seriously. The world doesn’t stop spinning just because the World Cup is coming.”
