Watching the World Cup With Portugal’s Prime Minister, in Newark

NEWARK, N.J. — It was barely past noon Friday, and the Ironbound neighborhood in Newark was already a sea of red and white jerseys. Lines stretched down Ferry Street to get into Iberia, Mompou and other Portuguese restaurants. Red, green and gold garland draped across telephone poles. Portuguese songs blared from an open-air bar.

It was game time — Portugal vs. Spain in a World Cup first-round match — and all work in the thriving Portuguese enclave essentially stopped.

Among those focused on nothing but the game were the prime minister of Portugal, António Costa, who came to United States for a celebration of Portuguese culture, and the governor of New Jersey, Philip D. Murphy, who took a brief break from a budget standoff.

“The budget does take priority, let there be no doubt about it,” Murphy said, adding that he remained confident that a budget deal would be made in time for the end of the World Cup. “I still remain optimistic that you’ll be watching soccer on June 30.”

Murphy and Costa watched the game at Sport Club Português in Newark, where about 200 fans, fueled by liters of sangria, pints of Portuguese lager and plates of chouriço, a Portuguese sausage, cheered raucously behind the politicians assembled in the front row.

The governor was noticeably excited as he grabbed a red and green Portugal scarf and draped it around his neck, settling next to Costa, who was gesticulating with the same exasperated extended arm of a soccer fan whose team just blew a chance, or the same wincing grimace when the opposing team scores.

It is a bit of a trope in politics to turn a passion into a political asset, though nothing helps offset the whiff of pandering like a verifiable devotion that brings a sense of authenticity.

Chris Christie had Bruce Springsteen. Murphy has soccer.

Never quite the player — the governor stopped in ninth grade, admitting simply that “I was not good” — he nevertheless retained an adoration for the game. He is the majority owner of Sky Blue FC, a professional women’s team; a former board member of the U.S. Soccer Foundation; and the father of four soccer players, including his eldest son, who played at Tufts University. Murphy also attended some 2006 World Cup matches in Germany, and he has been to more than 100 professional matches in Europe.

When Murphy was a newly appointed ambassador to Germany, with no elected or political experience besides serving as finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee, he turned to soccer to help forge relationships. Almost every week, he found himself in the stands at a professional match.

“Angela Merkel is a big soccer fan,” he said. “That was something we knew we could find common ground in. When you’re overseas, the assumption is that the American isn’t going to be a deep, well-versed fan.”

Costa was clearly an equal, if not more exuberant, soccer fanatic. Just before the start of the match, he held up his smartphone, attempting to take a selfie with the crowd, which erupted into syncopated chants — “Por-tu-gal! Por-tu-gal!” — with arms extended.

“I’ve come back to share the pleasure and the suffering of this game with our community,” Costa said at halftime. (At that moment it was pleasure, since Portugal led, 2-1.) He said he would be heading to Russia to watch Portugal’s third match in the first round, but had decided to come to Newark for the first.

It was the first time Murphy had hosted a foreign head of government in New Jersey, and the two talked the requisite business. After all, this was meant to be about work and not merely a chance for two soccer die-hards to watch one of the most anticipated of the early World Cup matches.

They talked about potential trade (there was a discussion about how they could expand trade in the “logistics economy,” Murphy said). They talked politics (“he asked me my sense of the midterm elections,” Murphy said). And they talked about President Donald Trump (Costa said he would not be visiting the White House).

But, mostly, they talked soccer.

“I mean, I don’t think if I wanted to talk about business we could get much done,” Murphy said with a laugh as he glanced over at a transfixed Costa, who was leaning on one knee and nervously chewing on his index finger as Spain repeatedly threatened to score midway through the second half.

Then disaster struck. Nacho Fernandez, a defender on Spain’s team, unleashed a long shot from about 25 yards that caromed off the post and into the net, giving Spain a late 3-2 lead. (The match ended in a 3-3 tie.)

“Goalie had no chance,” Costa said to Murphy, sighing and leaning far back in his chair.

“No chance,” Murphy repeated. He glanced over at his three sons a few seats away, eyebrows raised and clearly impressed by the skillful volley.

He sat back in his chair. “It’s a beautiful game.” This “beautiful game” even unearthed a rare utterance from Murphy: a compliment for Trump. He recalled making an impassioned, ad-libbed pitch to the delegations from Canada, Mexico, the United States and FIFA — the governing body for world soccer — when they visited MetLife Stadium a few months before the 2026 World Cup was awarded to the three countries.

“I also said to them, ‘Hey, listen, no one is asking me to say this, don’t worry about the politics in America,'” he recalled, adding later that the Trump administration should be credited for its efforts to win the World Cup. “When it comes to soccer and this tournament, we’ll figure this out.”