Tag Archives: World Cup

Where are you watching World Cup matches?

World Cup 2010 logoThose wanting to get out of the house to enjoy soccer’s World Cup (beginning today in South Africa) will have plenty of options here in metro Birmingham.

BTW – here’s a really cool presentation of the tournament calendar.

RojoCrestwood Coffee CompanyCantina and Urban Standard are among the places that have confirmed that they will be showing matches during the next two weeks. Cantina will open for 9 a.m. matches, while Crestwood will open for 6:30 a.m. matches (Urban Standard will open at 7 a.m. with Rojo keeping regular operating hours).

Café Firenze and Matthew’s Bar and Grill have said that they will be showing the USA vs. England match tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon; it will start at 12:30 p.m. CDT.

The finals will be broadcast live at Sloss Furnaces on Sunday, July 11 at 1 p.m. Proceeds from the event will benefit  the programs of the Birmingham-Jefferson Chapter of the American Red Cross.

The fun starts today at 9 a.m. CDT when South Africa takes on Mexico in Johannesburg.

If you know of anywhere else that’s showing matches during the tournament, add them to the comments section of this post.

Will World Cup Soccer return to Birmingham?

Soccer ball. thebuffafamily/FlickrLost in the talk about the City Council approving an extra $250,000 for this year’s City Stages (bringing the total amount to $550,000) was the announcement by Mayor Langford that Birmingham, AL would be submitting a proposal to be one of the facilities that could be used for the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Now, to put this in perspective, there are 37 potential host cities (with 45 facilities total) across the United States being asked to submit for a chance to hose the soccer matches. The hope is to have the final list ready by the end of the year, allowing them to be included in the bid book, due in May 2010.

If successful, it would be the first time Birmingham sees World Cup action since the 2005 qualifying match between the U.S. and Guatemala at Legion Field. The U.S. is competing against several countries for the honor, including the United Kingdom, meaning that our sister city across the pond wants in on it too.

Photo: Soccer ball. thebuffafamily/Flickr