Banks for the Memories

There are nights when downtown just feels different, and Friday, June 12, was one of those. As the clock crept toward 9 p.m., the stretch of riverfront between Great American Ball Park and Paycor Stadium had quietly transformed into one enormous living room, and a few thousand of our closest neighbors had claimed their patch of The Banks to watch the United States kick off its home World Cup.

If you haven’t yet wandered down to The Banks this summer, consider this your nudge. Through the July final, the city’s riverfront entertainment district is doing double duty as the 2026 Soccer Viewing Village, a free, all-ages fan zone built around a giant outdoor screen, full match sound, and food and drinks from the restaurants right next door.

And what a night to show up! Opening matches can be nerve wracking even for the fans, but the U.S. Men’s Team opened with a bang. Barely seven minutes in, a Weston McKennie cross caused enough chaos that Paraguay's Damián Bobadilla turned it into his own net, and the crowd at The Banks erupted in cheers. From there, striker Folarin Balogun took over, burying a Christian Pulisic cross in the 31st minute and then weaving through two defenders in first-half stoppage time to make it three. That second goal made Balogun the first American to score twice in a single World Cup match since 1930, a stat that drew a commotion from the folks watching beside me near the screen.

Paraguay pulled one back midway through the second half, briefly quieting the riverside party, but Cincinnati got its exclamation point deep into stoppage time when Gio Reyna curled a shot off the outside of his right foot and into the corner. 4-1. It was the most goals the U.S. men have ever scored in a single World Cup game, and for a few glorious minutes The Banks was bustling with U.S. pride for a sport that has taken Cincinnati by storm since FCC.

You could have caught the same match on your couch, but you’d have missed the stranger in a full-blown USA overalls with a matching hat, high-fiving everyone and the collective gasp before every American shot. There’s a reason people keep choosing to watch the big ones together, and on Friday, downtown made the case better than any person could.

The good news is that the party is far from over. The Village runs way through the World Cup final in July, with the most popular matches, Team USA and global heavyweights like Spain, England, France, Brazil, and Argentina among them, shown on the big screen with festival style energy.

So bring your friends, your flags, and your country’s jersey. Cincinnati has spent this summer reminding the world that it knows how to throw a party, and down at The Banks, the whole world is invited.

 – Tim David