Crowds at Dupont Circle for last week's game
Crowds at Dupont Circle for last week's game

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The D.C. government will try to one-up the German Embassy for tomorrow’s World Cup round of 16 game and host a watch party of its own. The city is partnering with D.C. United, Downtown DC BID, Events DC, and others to throw a free U.S. vs. Belgium watch party in Freedom Plaza.

The German Embassy put up the $30,000 to sponsor last week’s main watch party for the U.S. vs. Germany game in Dupont Circle, which thousands of people attended. But the organizer of the event, Dupont Festival, says it couldn’t find anyone to sponsor tomorrow’s game, according to the Washington Post. 

Tomorrow’s party will have considerably less shade than the one last week in the tree-adorned circle, but D.C. Water will have water stations at tomorrow’s event. Tommy McFly and Kelly Collis from the Tommy Show on 94.7 Fresh FM will serve as emcees before the game starts. The watch party will begin at 3 p.m., an hour before the game starts at 4.

The following streets will be closed around Freedom Plaza,  located on Pennsylvania Avenue between 13th and 14th streets NW, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. DDOT spokesman Reggie Sanders says the streets will be closed for so long because of the set up and clean up required and the “high volume” of people expected to attend.

  • Pennsylvania Avenue from 13th Street to 14th Street, NW
  • E Street from 13th Street to 14th Street, NW
  • 13th Street from E Street to Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

If you prefer to legally drink beer at your soccer games, you may want to head to the Fairground near Nats Park, where there will be another watching event with food trucks and beer for sale. (Or go to any of these spots.)

If you like to watch your game in enemy territory, the Belgium Embassy invites fans to watch with them in the courtyard at the National Portrait Gallery.  This event will have natural outdoor lighting, but will be inside and air-conditioned.

If TV stats are any guide, plenty of people will be watching in less public spots, anyway; D.C. has been generating ESPN’s highest ratings for the World Cup so far.

Photo by Perry Stein