Kolkata: “While the group-stage matches I will watch alone on my laptop, from the round-of-32 onwards, I plan to watch them with my friends at one of the watch parties that are usually organised in different localities,” 28-year-old Mangami had said when TOI had contacted him ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026.It was this very wish of several fans like him that led the Meghalaya govt to start the Chief Minister’s Football Fan-Park at the S.R.G.T Parking Lot of Polo in Shillong where the football-crazy people of the region can gather and watch some of the World Cup matches and cheer their teams on along with like-minded fans of the sport.“I am really glad that this has been done,” Mangami said when contacted on Sunday. “I am already planning with my friends as to which games we can watch there together.”With the 2026 edition of the FIFA tournament having completed its group stage and stepped into the knockouts, the football fever — a consistent phenomenon in the northeast — has also grown among the supporters of the 32 teams that have made the next stage.A release from the state govt’s department of tourism stated that fans from all over the state can gather to watch live matches on the big screen in the Polo parking lot and, to ensure the best possible experience for attendees, screenings will be exclusively done for fixtures scheduled at “fan-friendly hours”, which are the games with 9:30pm, 10:30pm and 12:30am kickoff time.While the govt initiative kicked off in the early hours of Saturday with some die-hard fans in attendance, the footfall is expected to increase as the World Cup progresses.However, the fans present to watch their heroes at the first screening on the huge LED screen were overwhelmed by the experience.“This was just a really great experience for me,” Skendrowell Marbaniang said over the phone from Shillong. “Earlier, we had screens hung in individual localities to experience these games together. But those screens were far smaller and the telecast quality was sometimes not up to the mark.”“Here, those problems are not there which is what make the experience so much more fulfilling,” he added.The govt release stated that the fan park was one of its community-driven initiatives “that align seamlessly with its grand aspiration to build the country’s largest football stadium at Mawkhnau”.For the time being, with stars like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe all having booked their berths for the knockouts, the football fans can soak in the World Cup fever together at the CM Football Fan Park.
