BBCThe 2026 FIFA World Cup is just around the corner, which means fans will be packing into pubs, bars and living rooms to cheer on their favourite teams.
And while a trip to a bustling, multi-screened pub remains a popular choice, there are more unusual settings in which to get your football fix.
From a wedding venue to historic baths, we’ve rounded up the most fun locations to watch the action.
Victoria Baths – Greater Manchester
Through stained-glass windows you can peer into the Victoria Baths and see the faded grandeur of a public pool Mancunians enjoyed for nearly a century – but you won’t see any water in it now. Instead, you’ll find a massive screen and booming speakers towering over the far end of the empty pool – its sloping floor ensuring a good view for those at the back.
There’ll be a long bar in the next room and food trucks in the car park just outside. Round the corner, a pop-up goal. Flags will be draped from the mezzanine balconies with DJs on the decks.
Victory at the Baths promises to have it all – as long as everything goes to plan for organiser Jack Nunes before England’s first match on 17 June. He only came up with the idea a couple of months ago, after chatting to a mate with whom he plays 11-a-side.
“We don’t have the experience but we have the enthusiasm,” he tells me.
Jack thinks he can fit 500 people into the Victorian building, with plenty of space for everyone – but there’s a lot to think about.
“I’ve had to sort a huge carpet for the swimming pool, which is around 170 metres squared.” Why? “Well, hopefully, when Tommy Tuchel’s brave boys put seven past Brazil, there’ll be lots of beer flying everywhere – but the minute you spill liquid in there… it becomes like an ice rink.”
Speaking of beer, Jack has sorted deals with Jubel and the Manchester Union Brewery. As for the food, he’s got local traders lined up.
As the afternoon sunshine pours in through a stained-glass window, it illuminates a century-old design of a man dribbling a football across a pitch.
“Watching England games here, it’s almost as if it’s meant to be.”
How much? Tickets are £10, but discounts are available for groups
Hastings Pier – East Sussex
This kind of logistical challenge is something Mark Graham has decades of experience to fall back on. He worked in music festivals and events for 25 years before striking success with football fan parks.
His first events were for the Euros in 2021, including a watch party at another historic venue: Hastings Pier.
The South Coast attraction was one of three locations his company 4TheFans used for the tournament, selling 12,000 tickets for their Euro screenings.
The company has since grown to 15 venues across England and Scotland where people can watch this year’s World Cup – from Aberdeen to Bournemouth, Leeds to Margate.
4TheFans
4TheFansThey are expecting about 75,000 people through their doors. A ticket to one of their London fan zones is £16, but prices are cheaper for groups and in locations outside the capital.
“It’s a big room experience and [we have] everything… a massive screen, a large audience and super energy,” he tells me. “Every fan has a great view and it’s, sort of, organised chaos.”
As well as using light shows and special effects, Mark’s DJs will play more positive and hopeful music should one of the British teams be losing.
“Whereas if England are two nil up, we might just go full throttle with England songs and enjoy ourselves.”
How much? General admission from £10
The venue at Duntarvie Castle – West Lothian
That said, the loudest singing may well come from north of the border, where the voices of the Tartan Army will ring out for a World Cup for the first time since 1998.
In the shadow of Duntarvie Castle’s ruins, which lie among fields west of Edinburgh, there’s a barn made of steel and wood.
It usually hosts weddings, but this year Kieran White, who operates the venue, will put on a watch party for the first time. The castle, which is in the process of being renovated, will be lit up in blue.
“I love football, I love hospitality. For me to be able to combine two of my favourite things and give other people a great space to watch the World Cup – which doesn’t happen very often in Scottish people’s lives – is fantastic.”
The Scots’ first game against Haiti doesn’t kick off until 2am on 14 June and Kieran, a professional chef, has ensured all 150 guests making it through the night will be amply fed and watered.
There will be haggis pizza accompanied by a whisky mayo; haggis fries topped with whisky gravy; and Balmoral chicken pies (made with haggis and whisky) at half-time.
To help diners work up an appetite before the game, Kieran is setting up goals in the lush grounds surrounding the castle. Table football and pool tables will be on the patio.
And if Scotland beat Brazil on 24 June?
“We’ll give everyone free beer,” Kieran says. “Now that’s going to be published, I’m going to have to do it, aren’t I?”
Ovo Hydro indoor arena – Glasgow
Such a generous offer might be a bigger issue for organisers at the Ovo Hydro in Glasgow, an indoor arena with enough space for 10,000 fans.
It’s showing football for the first time and hosting watch parties for all three of Scotland’s group games.
“I can confidently say ours is the biggest,” Debbie McWilliams says of their enormous 20-metre screen.
Organisers of TRNSMT music festival in Glasgow have announced they will alter their set times on 19 June so revellers can watch Scotland play against Morocco on what they describe as the “largest screens in the country”.
HydroDebbie, who chooses which events to host at the Hydro in her role as chief commercial officer, says everyone has fond memories of Scotland’s match against Brazil – the opening match of of the 1998 World Cup.
“You don’t forget those moments,” she says of the nation’s outpouring of national pride back then. “For the Hydro to be at the heart of the moment now, in this city with those fans, is incredibly exciting for us.”
Debbie is particularly looking forward to the pre-game entertainment she’s booked to rev up the Tartan Army – Dougie MacLean will sing his folk song Caledonia and Donnie Munro, former lead singer of Runrig, will lead a rendition of Loch Lomond.
“We’re all anticipating that, at some point, something really exciting is going to happen,” she says. “That momentous moment is the thing that people remember.”
How much? Tickets start at £19.50, but discounts are available for groups; designated drivers get in for free
Bath on the Beach tropical bar – Somerset
For Millie Williamson and Isla Langridge, those memories are of English heartbreak at the last three major international football tournaments.
Both Millie and Isla have worked at Bath on the Beach, the West Country city’s largest beer garden, for more than five years. It’s clearly a popular venue as their screening of England’s opening game against Croatia has already sold out.
“The number one thing people ask us is, ‘Where’s the sea?'” laughs Isla. “We don’t have any water features, unfortunately, but we do have sand and cabanas you can book.”
Food and drink – both with a tropical theme – is delivered directly to your cabana by one of the 50 staff who work at the venue, which can hold up to 500 people.
“The essence of Bath on the Beach is that we really wanted to take people out of the hustle and bustle of town and put them into a kind of tropical escape,” says Millie.
Bath on the Beach
Bath on the BeachThey have extended opening hours to show the England games late into the evening.
Licencing rules in England and Scotland, which is a devolved issue, have been relaxed for the World Cup – including knockout games – meaning pubs and bars can stay open beyond their usual hours.
The British Beer and Pub Association welcomed the move, saying it would allow people to “come together, boost community spirit and enjoy a summer of sport”.
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