Long Valley Sports Bars Are Getting Ready For World Cup 2026

LONG VALLEY, NJ — The world’s biggest soccer tournament, the 2026 FIFA World Cup, is coming to New Jersey. Not all fans in Long Valley can see the action in person, but they can still find plenty of places to watch the World Cup, the world’s biggest soccer tournament.

Fans from around the globe will come to North America for matches that are being played across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

The 2026 World Cup runs 39 days, starting Thursday, June 11, and ending July 19. For the first time, the tournament will feature 48 teams, making it the largest World Cup ever.

Eleven U.S. cities — Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Rutherford, New Jersey — are hosting matches.

Given the massive popularity of the World Cup, sports bars across the country are expected to draw large and energetic crowds. Some to consider in and around Long Valley include:

• Long Valley Pub & Brewery at Restaurant Village, 1 Fairmount Rd, Long Valley
• Old Mill Tavern, 55 Rte 24, Chester
• OMG Burgers & Brew, 141 Schooleys Mountain Rd, Long Valley,
• The Famished Frog, 18 Washington St., Morristown
• Horseshoe Tavern, 36 Speedwell Avenue, Morristown

The World Cup will feature an unprecedented trio of star-studded opening ceremonies in the host nations, the United States, Canada and Mexico, created by the Italian producer behind the opening ceremony for this year's Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

The ceremonies' unifying theme will be “the celebration of sports, the passion for soccer, symbolized by the cup itself,” Marco Balich, creative director of Milan-based Balich Wonder Studio, told The Associated Press. “The idea is to narrate with three points of view and languages” using design aesthetics representative of each culture.

In Canada, a mosaic will represent its multicultural identity. Mexico's motif will be the traditional paper cutouts called papel picado, while the United States will have “a super shiny, glowing cup,” said Balich, who also produced the opening ceremony for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Each ceremony will feature top artistic performances that tap into the national identity, but Balich said spectators shouldn’t expect a Super Bowl-style halftime extravaganza. Instead, the ceremonies will combine welcoming speeches, a parade of flags, the presentation of the match ball and about 30 minutes of musical entertainment.

The U.S. opening ceremony takes place Friday at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Beginning at 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time/7:30 p.m. Eastern Time, 90 minutes before the USA vs. Paraguay opening match. Katy Perry, Future, Anitta, LISA, Rema and Tyla headline an all-star lineup.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.