Guggenheim Museum to Stream World Cup Matches and Show Zidane Video Work
The Guggenheim Museum in New York is pairing live soccer with video art this summer. Beginning June 12, the museum will host Friday-afternoon livestreams of selected World Cup matches at Frank Pub’s, a pop-up at the Wright, the Guggenheim’s restaurant. The screenings will be free for members and included with that day’s admission ticket.
The museum said the program is meant to create “a space for people to grab a bite, watch the World Cup, and share in the excitement together.” Five matches are scheduled, including Canada vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 12, US vs. Australia on June 19, and Norway vs. France on June 26. Two later-round games will follow: Match 88 in the Round of 32 on July 3 and Match 98 in the Quarterfinals on July 10.
Alongside the broadcasts, the Guggenheim will present a football-related work from its collection for the first time: Zidane, a 21st century portrait (2006) by Scottish artist Douglas Gordon and French artist Philippe Parreno. The two-channel, 90-minute video follows French football star Zinedine Zidane, known as Zizou, during a single match played in Madrid on April 23, 2005.
The work marks its 20th anniversary this year and will screen continuously in the Peter B. Lewis Theater from June 11 to July 19, the duration of this year’s World Cup. It is part of the museum’s ongoing “Collection in Focus” series.
Nat Trotman, a curator of media and performance at the Guggenheim, described Zidane as “a key work in the Guggenheim’s robust collection of video and time-based media.” He added that the installation offers “a complex yet intimate portrayal of skill, celebrity, and sheer force of will.”
The piece is one of 17 unique versions and was assembled from footage captured by 17 synchronized cameras around the stadium. Unlike conventional match coverage, it stays fixed on Zidane even when the ball moves elsewhere, while a second screen shows raw footage from one of the cameras in sync with the edited version.
The museum’s decision to place a major video work beside live World Cup screenings underscores how contemporary art institutions are increasingly treating sport not as a diversion from culture, but as one of its most revealing forms.
