LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Free viewing parties for all six of Saturday’s World Cup matches will be held at multiple sites in Los Angeles County, including the Jackie Tatum Harvard Recreation Center in South Los Angeles and Venice Beach Recreation Center.
Those parties, along with the NoHo Futbol Fest at Lankershim and Magnolia boulevards in North Hollywood, are part of Kick It In the Park, organized by various city of Los Angeles departments that also include youth soccer clinics, neighborhood programming and community resources.
Attendance is limited to 1,000 people at a time. Alcohol sale, possession and consumption is not permitted. Attendees are advised by organizers to bring blankets, chairs, snacks and reusable water bottles.
More information is available at kickit.lacity.gov.
An RSVP is required for the NoHo Futbol Fest, which can be made at www.eventbrite.com/e/noho-futbol-fest-tickets- 1987629821301?aff=ebdssbdestsearch Few tickets were left as of early Saturday morning.
The NoHo Futbol Fest will also include DJs, cultural performances, drumline entertainment and guest appearances. There will also be food from over 20 local restaurants, a beer garden with cold beverages and game-day specials, soccer-themed games, photo installations, interactive experiences, giveaways and a dedicated family area with activities, games, crafts and entertainment.
Saturday is the final day of group stage play. Play will begin at 2 p.m. with Group L matches between England and Panama and Croatia and Ghana.
England (1-0-1) and Ghana (1-0-1) are both assured of advancing to the knockout stage. Croatia (1-1-0) would advance with a victory or tie. Panama (0-2-0) has been eliminated.
Group K matches between Colombia and Portugal and Congo and Uzbekistan will follow at 4:30 p.m.
Colombia (2-0-0) and Portugal (1-0-1) are both assured of advancing to the knockout stage. The Colombia-Portugal winner will win the group. Colombia would also win the group with a tie.
Congo (0-1-1) is assured of advancing with a victory. It would be eliminated with a tie or loss.
Uzbekistan (0-2-0) has virtually no chance of advancing because of its minus-7 goal differential entering Saturday’s play.
Group L matches between Argentina and Jordan and Algeria and Austria will follow at 7 p.m.
Defending champion Argentina (2-0-0) is assured of winning the group.
Austria (1-1-0) would be assured of advancing with a victory or tie It could also advance with a loss.
Algeria (1-1-0) would be assured of advancing with a victory or tie.
Jordan (0-2-0) has been eliminated.
The England-Panama, Colombia-Portugal and Argentina-Jordan matches will also be shown at the Soccer Celebration at Pine Avenue and Broadway in Long Beach organized by the Galaxy, the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica and West Hollywood Park.
The England-Panama match will also be shown at the Central Library in downtown Los Angeles.
The final games of each group are played at the same time to avoid situations where teams could manipulate the outcome of their matches based on the results of other matches.
Fox will televise the England-Panama, Colombia-Portugal and Argentina- Jordan matches in English. FS1 will provide English language coverage of the Croatia-Ghana, Congo-Uzbekistan and Algeria -Austria matches.
Telemundo will televise the England-Panama, Colombia-Portugal and Argentina-Jordan matches in Spanish. Universo will provide Spanish language coverage Coatia-Ghana, Congo-Uzbekistan and Algeria-Austria matches.
The knockout stage will begin Sunday with Canada facing South Africa at SoFi Stadium.
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