World Cup festivities are still kicking in Somerville and Cambridge as the global soccer competition enters its final weeks.
With seven official match days remaining as tournament knockout rounds, a seven-part World Cup watch party series called Match Day at Bow begins Thursday (France vs. Morocco) and runs through July 19 at Somerville’s Bow Market, a collection of independently owned and run local businesses, restaurants, artists and maker shops.
Beginning with the quarterfinal round, Match Day events offer large-screen watches outside or in Upstairs at Bow’s World Cup Clubhouse. The courtyard has first-come, first-served seating and standing room with tickets starting at $10; the indoors viewings have reserved tables, specialty beverages and limited-edition jerseys, with tables for four beginning at $240. Proceeds from ticket sales benefit Somerville Youth Soccer.
Friday and July 15 are Somerville Youth Soccer Nights, highlighting the city’s largest youth sports organization – 1,700 families, group president Jonathan Kilpatrick said – in its 36th anniversary year. “Soccer is one of the few things that can instantly connect people across generations, cultures and neighborhoods, and no community embodies that spirit more than Somerville,” Kilpatrick said.
In addition to official Match Day events from Bow Market, Flagg Street Studio and Somerville Youth Soccer, games screen at the Remnant Brewing hall inside Bow Market.
Other watch parties
Watch parties led by the Somerville Chamber of Commerce take place at 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday in Davis Square (France vs. Morocco) and 2:30 to 7 p.m. July 19 in Union Square with large-scale outdoor LED screens for live match viewing, multilingual broadcast access, food from local vendors and restaurants, family-friendly activities and cultural programming and live music or DJs featuring local artists.
The World Cup quarterfinals (Spain vs. Belgium) are on the big screen 4 p.m. Friday at the Common at CX, 320 Morgan Ave., North Point, Cambridge.
Global Pulse
Another celebration of World Cup festivities is Global Pulse, held at 6 p.m. Friday in Centanni Park, Third and Otis streets, East Cambridge, next to the Multicultural Arts Center at 41 Second St.
Global Pulse brings together Afrobeats Boston and Haitian and Ghanaian performers such as Dzidzor and Afmohip for music, rhythm and “diasporic cultural exchange that highlights the global communities shaping the region’s cultural landscape,” organizers said.
The event is part of the Multicultural Arts Center’s summer series and is presented in partnership with the Cambridge Office of Tourism.
Global Grooves
A free community event called Global Grooves: Rhythms of the Game runs noon to 4 p.m. Saturday on the plaza at Somerville City Hall, 93 Highland Ave., Central Hill, with World Cup-inspired live music, culture, art and community, including the Iranian/Iraqi group Pejvak, U.K. and Jamaica-influenced drum-and-bass outfit Flying Vipers, French electropop artist LLynks, Norwegian music from The Kauffman Duo, Scottish bagpipes by Nate Silva and Brazilian percussion from Grooversity, alongside DJs playing music reflecting Somerville’s many communities. The program also includes soccer juggling, family-friendly activities, food and beverages, and community tabling. The event is in partnership with the Somerville Arts Council and City of Somerville.
Somercup
SomerCup 2026 is an all-ages community tournament taking place noon to 5 p.m. Sunday for kids through the fourth grade, 5 to 10 p.m. Monday for those 18 and older and 1:30 to 5 p.m. July 17 for grades 5 though 12. Games take place at Dilboy Stadium, 110 Alewife Brook Parkway, Somerville, and co-hosted by Somerville Recreation and the Somerville Office of Immigrant Affairs.
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