More than half of football fans in Spain plan to watch the 2026 World Cup matches in a bar. That is the figure from a LaLiga study on football viewing habits, and it shows Spaniards are the Europeans most likely to follow tournaments away from home.
On the ground, however, the reality is more nuanced. Santi Vidal, owner of the bar El Cuadro in the Madrid neighbourhood of Carabanchel, is not expecting a stampede for the opening games: "People prefer to watch them at home. We are only expecting big crowds as La Roja progresses through the tournament," he told RTVE. For the first match, against Cape Verde, they have not made any special preparations.
Vidal points to the pandemic as a turning point: "Before coronavirus, a football night was absolute madness. After COVID-19, a lot of people prefer to take it easy and get together with friends at home."
A change in habits that the data themselves confirm: according to Numerator's Worldpanel consultancy, two out of every three fans will follow the World Cup from their living room, and will spend 6% more on food and drink to take home. The Glovo report goes further: it puts that preference for staying in at 80% of Spaniards, with pizza and burgers the most frequent orders during matches.
