The Houston World Cup host committee announced Sunday plans for two fan walks scheduled for Tuesday morning before Portugal faces Uzbekistan at Houston Stadium at Noon CT. Portugal’s Fan Walk will be held at 9 a.m., with the Fan Walk set to begin at the Smith Lands South Parking Lot near the Texas Medical Center. Uzbekistan’s Fan Walk will begin at Helix Park, also located in the Medical Center area.
Expect a larger gathering of fans at Portugal’s Fan Walk. But there is one incentive for American soccer fans to join Uzbekistan’s Fan Walk. Organizers for the Uzbekistan Fan Walk plan to hand out plates of plov in the 90 minutes before the Fan Walk, giving those in attendance a taste of the traditional Uzbek rice dish.
Portugal and Uzbekistan could draw crowds into the thousands on Tuesday. The pair of Fan Walks will still likely pale in comparison to the throngs of crowds in Houston on Saturday morning.
The Oranje Fan Walk for the Netherlands drew an estimated 25,000 fans, in which Dutch nationals and Americans banded together to produce a sea of orange akin to a Houston Astros World Series parade. Those participating in the Fan Walk arrived in Rice Village as early as 6 a.m., and many in attendance noted Houston’s Fan Walk drew a larger crowd than many of the previous Oranje Fan Walks in Europe.
“The Dutch Football Association said they guessed there would be 5,000 to 10,000 people in attendance,” one Dutch attendee told Chron on Saturday. “There’s got to be way more than that today. Maybe double. This is incredible.”
Portgual vs. Uzbekistan will be the fourth of seven World Cup matches held in Houston, with kickoff set for Noon CT. Those who can’t attend the game inside Houston Stadium can watch the action at the FIFA Fan Festival in EaDo, which will remain open to fans every day of the World Cup through the event’s conclusion on July 19.