World Cup Final kicking off at NY/NJ Stadium on Sunday

Welcome to Good Day Weekend. It's Sunday, July 19th. I'm Lisa Evers in the Fox 5 Newsroom. Thank you for joining us live right here on the Fox Local app. And the big story today, the World Cup Final happening at New York-New Jersey Stadium in just a matter of hours. You can see the countdown clock on your screen. How about that? And you're taking a live look right now in our backyard at New York-New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where today's final will be played. Kickoff is at three, but our coverage here on Fox Local will be going all day for you. And fans from around the world have been pouring into the Tri-State area just to feel the energy in the air and be next to all of the action. Spain fans surrounding Madison Square Garden, supporters of Argentina flocking to Times Square. Hotels, restaurants, and bars packed ahead of what's expected to be the biggest sporting event of the year, with the biggest match in soccer just hours away. Fans of both Argentina and Spain say the anticipation is at an all-time high. Tomorrow is Spain. Argentina? No. I go for Spain all the way. They're going to get the three of them. All the way, yes. They're going to get the three of them. Spain, yes. Me too. We think we're going to win, because we have the best of the best. It's messy. I think it's safe to say for Argentinians, it's a lot deeper than soccer. It's a lot deeper than football. It's a lot deeper for just a game. It's culture. I think that's safe to say for everybody. I think Argentina is going to beat Spain. No. I actually think that Argentina is going to win the World Cup. Sorry, messy, but sorry. President Trump and Miriam Nani are expected to both be in attendance and the halftime show, the first ever Super Bowl-style halftime show in the tournament's history. It'll feature Chris Martin, Madonna, Shakira, Justin Bieber, and BTS. And if you weren't lucky enough to snag a ticket to the final, there are plenty of watch parties to choose from in the city, including Central Park. Gates open at noon, but the lottery for free tickets there has closed. You can also head to Brooklyn Bridge Park, La Marqueta Market in East Harlem, Essex Market on the Lower East Side, and Moore Street Market in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. And we want to know, who do you think will win the World Cup? It's our question of the day on fox5ny.com slash connect, or just scan the QR code and you can see who's ahead. Okay, so far Spain has a little bit of an advantage. They're about two points, but don't count Argentina out by any means. And remember, Fox 5 is your home for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. You can watch today's final between Argentina and Spain right here on Fox at three in the afternoon. Pre-game coverage starts at 11 a.m. Streaming coverage will begin with a special newsroom live, which I'll be co-hosting here for you on Fox Local in less than two hours at 10 a.m. And we'll be with you for most of the day. What a day it is. And here's a look at your weekend weather. Yesterday's rain clears into a mainly sunny day today, with a high temperature just over 80. Tonight, it'll go down to the mid-60s. Tomorrow, the work week begins with a warm Monday going back above 80 degrees. And the music that has been echoing through stadiums across North America for weeks all started in a Brooklyn apartment. Robert Moses introduces us to the man behind the official theme music of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The pitch before the pitch. You are listening to the official 2026 World Cup theme music that has fired up fans this summer, even before kickoff. Brooklynite Zach Golden wrote it. People that are commenting about how much it's made a difference and how they see the World Cup. I mean, some parents are even like leaving comments to me saying that their kid sings it all the time now, which is, you know, I hope that's a good thing. Golden grew up in a musical family playing instruments. He studied audio engineering and jazz composition at Berkeley College of Music in Boston. He came to New York in 2012 and worked at Crate and Barrel in Soho. Then in 2014, he got a job as a dub room engineer, an entry level position at what was then Elias Music and is now Universal Music Publishing Group or UMPG. You've probably heard some of UMPG's work. Liberty, Liberty, Liberty, Liberty. Golden composed the theme for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and he wrote this year's music too. For me, getting into music was to always find that emotional connection with other people. So hearing it out in the world on such a massive stage is unbelievable. Like it is really a dream come true. I sat with him at his piano in Windsor Terrace as he played the melody. The melody kind of starts with imagining an entire stadium of people just waiting for the teams to kind of get on the pitch. And they're just all celebrating. Feels really nice. And then it gets a little dark as they're starting to play out there on the field and battling for the ball. Not sure what's going to happen, a shot on goal kind of happens and then resolution. What about all the other instruments that build suspense? We went over to the computer where Golden broke down each section. There's a drum group that has multiple different layers, you know, they've got stadium claps, like they have that, but then we also have like bigger drums that blend together. And so all these things kind of come together to create the right ambience. A friend of mine, Brian, who lives, he lives down in North Carolina, he's singing all over this. He's kind of like the main melody, if I can find it. Everything that you, that you hear, I'm playing on the keyboard and then it's kind of gets programmed in. So the strings, you know, there's me just on the keyboard. Here's what everything together. And we're into the start of the game. Very percussive. The drums are blended in with like different kicks and stuff like from soccer field. And it's building up. The tension's kind of building with the bass coming in. You're wondering what's going to happen. Break right there. It's like the shot is taken. Maybe it goes in or maybe it doesn't, but it's still such an exciting moment. It's the final melody statement is coming up and we're just kind of honestly, like the whole stadium is jumping up and down like the game of Mexico versus England. Like the stadium is that loud, you know what I mean? And then we come, we have that final melodic statement to finish the piece. Argentina and Spain will not only be playing for a world cup trophy later today, but for the first time ever, the winners will get rings. Players on the world cup winning team will receive gold medals and the captain and coach of the winning team will get temporary rings shortly after the match. FIFA says the winning team will get 30 customized rings with a world cup trophy on one side and on the other side will be, they created a quote to reflect the identity of the winning team. And the alcohol industry predicts fans will spend nearly 16 and a half million dollars combined when all is said and done with the eight matches at the New York, New Jersey stadium. That's more than $3 million alone is expected to be spent at today's final. And in case you're wondering, that's enough to line up 16 ounce beer cans from New York to Philadelphia four times over. And as we get ready for the final world cup match between Spain and Argentina, it has this thinking back to the excitement. The last time the world cup was held here in New Jersey back in 1994, this calls for a Fox five flashback. Take a look. As the clock ran out of the world cup today, Italy and Brazil fans weren't the only ones hanging on every last kick. Polly Chrisman reports. Plenty of people will be sorry to see soccer go bound section of Newark erupted into a street celebration, no doubt echoed in cities around the world. Usually I sell for $20. Yeah, but you win, I make you $10. Okay. 24 years. Brazil don't win the soccer play. This time is with time. Time is your time. Yeah. Brazil's victory was also a victory for the United States, which for the first time successfully hosted a month series of 52 World Cup matches at Giant Stadium and in eight other cities until the penalty shootout at the end. The first ever for a World Cup match. Little Italy was definitely the place to be. It's a very, very, very important moment for the Italy because the Brazilian are all in offense and we are all in defense. It does a job. That's it. I can't even see the ball on that and it's there. We've been watching it like this for about an hour now. It's there. It's visible at Vincent's on Grand Street. Italy's two successful penalty goals were met with ecstatic screams and then heartbreaking miss by Roberto Baggio across the river. The crowd went wild. Very Newark should look a lot like this late into the evening, but back in Little Italy, they're chanting something else. Holly Chrisman, Channel nine news. And again, remember, Fox five is your home for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. You can watch today's final between Argentina and Spain right here on Fox five at three o'clock in the afternoon. Pre game coverage starts at 11 a.m. Streaming coverage will begin with a special newsroom live, which I'll be co anchoring here on Fox local and less than two hours at 10 a.m. And we'll be with you for most of the day. Don't go away. We'll be right back. But first, here's a seven day forecast for your week ahead.