NEW YORK CITY will hold a series of free events for football fans who hope to experience the excitement of the World Cup but can’t afford the hefty ticket prices to the matches, officials announced on Monday.

The events, one in each of the city’s five boroughs, will include watch parties for the matches and other festivities. They will be staged at Rockefeller Centre in Manhattan, the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre in Queens, Brooklyn Bridge Park, a shopping centre near Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and a minor league baseball stadium in Staten Island.

World Cup matches will be played at Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey, where just getting to and from the matches on public transport could reportedly cost around £120.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a noted football fanatic, announced the free events alongside New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a fellow Democrat.

“Every fan should be able to watch the greatest tournament on earth without dipping into their savings,” Mamdani said.

Similar fan events are being planned for other US host cities.