Watching the World Cup with (Almost) Every Nation in New York: Dispatch 1
🇨🇦🇨🇭🇧🇪🇩🇿🇨🇩🏴 & Knicks in Five
For the next few weeks, Buttered Popcorn is temporarily a World Cup blog.
Like any good American, my relationship with football (soccer) is that I get obsessed with it every four years during the World Cup and otherwise pay it little mind. Which is to say that if I publish film reviews behind schedule, it’s because for the next month my TV will be permanently tuned to either Fox or Telemundo.
The city has fully given itself over. Every bar and restaurant has hastily put up a TV or projector. There are official viewing parties in every borough. But I’m not interested in just any old sports bar.
New York is the only city with a community for nearly all of the 48 countries participating in the World Cup. So I decided to go to as many national watch parties as humanly possible. As of press time I’m at 9 of 48. I’m hoping to get to 24. The major constraints are having a job and non-football social obligations, as well as certain countries not having a diaspora or public gathering place—I’m looking at you, Qatar1.
Throughout the World Cup I’ll be sharing what I took away from each of the watch parties I attend. I don’t know if I’ll stumble onto anything profound; I’m just looking to have a good time while experiencing a slice of other cultures. About half of each post will be behind the paywall.
In this edition: Knocking back Labatt with the Canucks, going from a Swiss soccer party to a Knicks celebration, cheering on the Red Devils of Belgium and the Fennecs of Algeria, sampling Congolese cuisine, and chanting with the English lads.
And a quick shoutout to three films that opened in theaters this past weekend, which I’ve previously reviewed for this newsletter: Maddie’s Secret, Leviticus, and Rose of Nevada. I wanted to rewatch and expand on those reviews but instead I went to a bunch of World Cup watch parties. Just know that they’re all great in different ways!
Canada 🇨🇦
Versus: Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇧🇦
Date: Friday, June 12
Location: The Canuck True North (Midtown)
As a diehard hockey fan, I’ve been going to The Canuck ever since they opened in Chelsea. Now there’s a second location, which I visited for Canada’s first match in this World Cup. There was a $30 cover but it comes with two drink tickets.
Perched at the bar, I nursed a Collective Arts IPA until kickoff as maple leaf-emblazoned sports bros filed in. (Compared to “normal” sports bars, it was racially very diverse.) By the time Alanis Morisette finished singing “O Canada,” it was full enough to feel like a party but not so packed that you couldn’t breathe. I would guess that the original location, two blocks over, was a sardine tin.
There was applause when Mike Myers appeared onscreen. After a late equalizing goal, the match ended in a 1-1 draw, which elicited big cheers. This was Canada’s first ever point at the World Cup. A few days later they’d get their first win, in that huge rout against Qatar. I watched that match at home and can only imagine how loud it would have been at The Canuck.
Switzerland 🇨🇭
Versus: Qatar 🇶🇦
Date: Saturday, June 13
Location: Shaffer’s (Chelsea)
Hours before June 13, 2026 would become one of the greatest Saturdays in New York history, an amiable crowd of Switzerland expats and supporters gathered for their side’s first match of the tournament at Shaffer’s, the official bar of the Swiss Soccer Club. About half of the patrons were wearing Switzerland shirts; the rest wore Knicks gear. I overheard an equal mix of English, German, and French.
During halftime the table next to us brought out cupcakes. It was someone’s birthday, and I think I know what she wished for. A deflating late goal from Qatar ended the game at a draw; unlike yesterday there were no cheers for this result.
Bonus: Knicks in Five 🏀
After the Switzerland match I took the subway back to Brooklyn to meet up with some pals for the Knicks game. BAM hosted a sidewalk party, where we managed to snag a space that would give us a view of the giant LED screen, albeit at an extreme angle. Uncomfortable as we were, sitting crisscrossed on pavement, it was magical to be in a crowd of Brooklynites as the Knicks came back to win the game, and thus the Championship. (I’m not even a basketball fan but I got swept up in the excitement just like everyone else.)
After the game we shut down the streets of Fort Greene. It’s a night I’ll never forget. If you weren’t there, you saw it on social media: the cheering and chanting, the people climbing to the top of street posts and buses, the unabashedly positive energy radiating from everyone. After a solid hour of aimless wandering, we headed over to Rockwell Place for a nightcap.
Belgium 🇧🇪
Versus: Egypt 🇪🇬
Date: Monday, June 15
Location: BXL Café (Times Square)
I’m not particularly rooting for any one team; accuse me of dilettantism if you’d like. In the past few years I’ve rooted for Belgium because my old roommate is Belgian and I’ve been to BXL a bunch of times with him. But the team is kind of washed now, as evidenced by their listless performance against Egypt. (Now my main team is Spain, not just because the bandwagon is easy to hop onto. I have family in Barcelona and visit every year.)
As usual, Olivier reserved a table at BXL to cheer on Les Diables Rouges. When I arrived an old man was finishing his bowl of moules frîtes; I ate leftovers before coming so I just got a Chimay. A TV camera from Fox was set up at the front of the bar and anyone wearing a jersey was ushered up to record some cheering footage that showed up on the broadcast just minutes later.
