World's most remote World Cup final watch parties

The FIFA World Cup final is the most-watched sporting event in the world. An estimated 1.5 billion people watched 2022's showpiece match in Qatar, and the final on Sunday between Spain and Argentina in New Jersey is likely to eclipse that figure. While crowds will pack into friends' houses, bars and open-air screenings in some of football's most renowned hotbeds such as London, Paris and Buenos Aires, the action will also be enjoyed by people in less likely surroundings. Among those watching billions are some hardy football lovers tuning in from some of the world's most isolated locations. - Spain's win vs. France ends incredible World Cup final streak - Why World Cup hydration breaks have got media 'salivating' - Meet the soccer team that plays all of its games tomorrow Rothera: World Cup eases Antarctic isolation When it comes to isolation, it is hard to beat Rothera Research Station in Antarctica. There are fewer than 1,000 people within 5.48 million square miles, with just 26 people wintering at the station itself, living in permanent darkness for months on end. The World Cup has become a valuable lift for those hardy souls, who come together around a projector and TV to watch the action. Some have watched almost every game of the tournament, but more on the British base gather for the Scotland and England games. "It's like home from home," Martin Kibble of the British Antarctic Survey told ESPN. "You could count on two hands the number of die-hard football fans who come to every game and watch it with us and create an atmosphere, but it's like recreating the pub back home." While Kibble admits it has been tough being separated from his children during the tournament, the World Cup has provided a crucial outlet for social bonding for those in Rothera, where life can be quite lonely. "My two boys ring me on FaceTime after the England games and when we win I'd love to be at home with them to experience that directly," Kibble said. "But football is very good for getting everyone here together. It's been the one thing that really unites people, the guaranteed backbone of daily life." For fellow Rothera resident Scott Kelly, a Scotland fan, watching his nation's first World Cup in 28 years from Rothera was a bittersweet experience. "I definitely would have gone [to the World Cup]," Kelly said. "I had said that the next time we qualified, I'd be there no matter what. Scotland hadn't qualified when I got the job offer, but it's probably for the best as I wouldn't have wanted to miss out on this experience. "What a story it'll be to tell my family and future children that I watched a World Cup from all the way down here." Kelly agrees that the World Cup has been a valuable tool for getting people together to watch games, sometimes followed by attempts to emulate stars such as Lionel Messi. Rothera base has an aircraft hangar that hosts games of five-a-side football. After England's win against Mexico, there was even an improvised kick-around outside in the deep snow. "In the winter season with the severe weather, you can get trapped in your own accommodation building, but the World Cup gives you an excuse to go out to the communal areas, watch the football and talk about our days," Kelly said. "It's a great antidote to the winter blues." With the World Cup final looming, there are already plans on Rothera to mark the special day. "One of the lads has 3D-printed a model of the World Cup," Kibble said. "We've got the bunting up and there'll be traditional British pub food. It'll be a real occasion." Ascension Island: Watching the World Cup from 'Mars' Ascension Island is a volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean -- a tiny dot midway between Africa and South America, almost 1,000 miles from the coast of Liberia to the north-east and even further from Brazil to the west. The island is home to a British Royal Air Force base and is nicknamed "The Mars of the Mid-Atlantic" due to its barren, red, volcanic landscape. Among the resident population of between 800 and 1,000 is a small community of football fans, including Tristan Hudson, an Arsenal supporter and a keen player in local tournaments. "I'm able to watch the games on TV here because we can pick up BBC and ITV [the UK's main channels showing the World Cup matches]," Hudson told ESPN. "Some people go out to bars or the NAAFI [Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes] Complex to watch the games together. People have been supporting a wide range of different teams, particularly England, Portugal and Brazil." The NAAFI Complex, which contains a bar and provides British service personnel with a welcome chance to buy snacks from home, is expected to host a live screening of the World Cup final, more than 5,000 miles from the action. It promises to be one of the world's most remote public World Cup final viewings, but not the most remote. Tristan da Cunha: The world's most remote World Cup watch party Some 2,300 miles south of Ascension Island lies Tristan da Cunha, a British Overseas Territory, and the most remote inhabited archipelago on Earth. There is no airstrip, so the island is only accessible through boats that visit roughly once per month. These ships must undertake a weeklong, 1,750-mile sail from Cape Town, South Africa, and cannot always dock due to weather conditions. Tristan's resident population of just over 200 has mostly been watching the World Cup from home because the island's only bar, the Albatross Bar, closes at 9 p.m. (5 p.m. ET) before most games have even kicked off. Despite the island's only settlement being called "Edinburgh of the Seven Seas," there is strong support for England. "The majority of people have been supporting England," islander Leon Glass told ESPN. "But there are also fans for Scotland, Brazil and Netherlands, and there would have been for Italy if they had qualified." It is hoped that Tristan's football lovers will gather for the final at the Albatross Bar, especially if England are involved. However, a powerful storm recently buffeted the island with hurricane-force winds, which caused severe damage that required repair work. There are also worries over the British Forces Broadcasting Service streams that serve the island, as they can drop out at inopportune moments. It's all part of the challenge when you try to watch the world's biggest football tournament from an island where the next-closest human beings are often the astronauts passing 250 miles overhead on the International Space Station. Svalbard: The world's most northerly World Cup watch party Longyearbyen, in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, is one of the world's northernmost settlements. Svalbard is best known for being the home of the Global Seed Vault, a backup of crop seeds kept in case of a doomsday scenario requiring the world to be replanted from scratch, and the prevalence of polar bears means you are legally obliged to carry a rifle when traveling around the island. But even in such a hostile environment, the World Cup has gripped the local population, aided by Norway's excellent run to the quarterfinals. A restaurant called Tio Monchos in Longyearbyen has been screening the games to increasingly large crowds, with around 400 watching Norway's defeat to England. "Longyearbyen is a very international community, so having people from all over the world watching football together has created a really special atmosphere," owner Andreas Styrsell told ESPN. "Everyone knows everyone here, and it feels more like watching football with friends than attending a commercial event. The celebrations after Norway's victories were unforgettable. Even many of the international residents adopted Norway as their team for the tournament. It really brought us all together." Despite Norway's exit, Tio Monchos will be hosting a World Cup final event and quite possibly making history in the process. "We will be showing the final on the biggest screen in Svalbard," Styrsell says. "We want to create one last great football celebration for the whole community, and this is probably the northernmost public World Cup watch party anywhere in the world. That's something we're really proud of." Kiribati: Tiny Pacific atolls tune in The Republic of Kiribati (pronounced "Kiri-bass") consists of 21 permanently inhabited islands or atolls in the Central Pacific Ocean and frequently ranks in the top 10 of the least visited nations on Earth. It is one of the word's places most vulnerable to climate change, with rising sea levels and extreme tides threatening its existence. On the football field, Kiribati is one of very few sovereign nations that is not a member of FIFA, although it is an associate member of the Oceania Football Confederation. Despite being outside the FIFA fold, the islands are football crazy, as shown by their Te Runga Games, a multi-sport event like an Olympics, which takes place every four years and sees football teams from every atoll come together to compete. And while Kiribati may not yet be eligible to compete in World Cup qualification (only FIFA members have that right), the tournament has still gripped the Pacific nation. "Everyone is watching the World Cup on their phone," Kiribati Islands Football Federation president Eriati Reebo told ESPN. "These days, people can watch using their internet connections through Starlink, which means you can see the World Cup even if you live on the most remote atolls." Starlink's arrival in Kiribati in 2025 has completely changed the nation's relationship to the World Cup, but there has also been a drive to make watching the games more of a communal experience. "The Kiribati Islands Football Federation and the Ministry of Sport wanted to make sure that from the quarterfinals onwards, the games are on a big screen at the Betio Sport Complex in Tarawa right next to the office of the nation's president," Reebo said. "And if any of the national teams in the World Cup want to challenge our Kiribati national squad, we are ready!"