Welcome to Friday. The weather is superb.



The best place to enjoy a World Cup match, we’re told, is in a 121-degree sauna.

Not for the great visuals — it can be a touch foggy — “but when your team is playing bad and you’re stressed, your body is still happy,” said Rustam Zaripov, the owner of the Russian Baths of Brooklyn in Brighton Beach.

The bath house was just one of the recommendations in The Times’s guide to watching the World Cup in New York City, which found interesting bars, restaurants and gathering places where you can watch matches with expatriates, immigrants and fans from all 32 countries.

For yesterday’s opening match between Russia and Saudi Arabia, we stopped by the baths, where running commentary could be heard in Russian, Ukrainian, Uzbek and English. “Oohs” and “oys” occasionally broke out among the sedate, flip-flop-wearing crowd.