June 12, at 10 pm, pretty much the whole of Croatia will stop. The national football team will play the World Cup opener against Brazil, and this marks the starting point for complete hysteria. Those fortunate will attend this historic match live, at Arena de Sao Paulo. Those who won’t will have choices to stay at home, or to join thousands in bars, beaches, squares. The same goes with anyone who prefered to come to Split, and Croatia, during the world cup.
We wrote earlier that Croatian Television will broadcast all the World Cup matches, schedule with local times is available here. Most bars, restaurant or cafes will install big screens for their guests to watch, but here are few suggestions where to watch World Cup in Split, and enjoy combination of football and beer. Juices are available, but who really cares?
Most of those places will strongly concentrate on the Croatian team’s matches. Probably the biggest spectacle will be on Bačvice, the most famous Split beach. As we learned, huge screen will be set by Ozujsko Beer in the sea for Croatia-Brazil match, and you will be able to watch it either lying in the sea, from the sandy beach, or from nearby Zbirac Cafe terrace, one of the most popular in Split. This happened before, with big success, as part of the Mediterranean Film Festival (photo by infozona.hr).
Of course, all other bars on Bačvice will have similar offer, our favorite is, of course, Fjaka.
Elsewhere, some of the interesting places include bars where football fans usually gather. They are mostly in the area behind Croatian National Theatre, and the most popular are Nostradamus, with lot of football memorabilia inside, and Treće poluvrijeme (meaning The Third Halftime).
Another one is Krom, little bit outside of the old town, but it’s traditional drinking place for members of Torcida, Hajduk Split fan group. Pretty close is caffe bar Periska, with big terrace, really big screen, and nice beer selection, including from Czech Republik and Belgium.
It’s possible that in the old town some place for public viewing will be set, but don’t rely on that, except when Croatia is playing. Still, on practically every square big screens will be available. For example, on the main city square, locally known as Piazza, all the bars will be included in pub viewing.
In some of them, like with our friends at No Stress, it’s possible to dine, although we don’t suggest to chew and cheer in the same time. Food there is just too good to be eaten without proper attention. Others around included are Central, Judita, Pjaca, Plac, etc.
Beers available anywhere, in great selection and amounts. Not very far is Semafor, one of the oldest bars in Split, with a good terrace, excellent screen, and interesting bunch of regular guests. Maybe it’s important to someone that betting place is just meters away.
One very special place is Carrara Square in the heart of Diocletian Palace. There are several bars on it, all with terraces, probably all with screens. Our favorite is, of course, the one with the biggest beer selection in the city, the excellent pub Dva Tona.
A special case is, of course, Riva. A string of bars chesretst along the biggest city promenade, and experience tells us that screens will be everywhere, from popular F Caffe to Marmontova Street. Just like at No Stress, even the food temple like Brasserie on 7 will include game watching on their impressive menu.
The same is on Zapadna obala, recently renovated promenade toward ACI marina, where three venues from the F Caffe chain will probably welcome all those keen to watch football a few meters from the sea.
