You’ve probably heard… the World Cup starts tonight. So why not join the action and watch the Matilda’s take on Ireland at the Festival Plaza this evening.

Dual code football star Marianna Rajcic, better known as MJ, summed up the buzz at today’s opening of the FIFA Fan Festival on the plaza with a little stat that made heads turn.

“Nike came out and said that they’ve sold more Matilda’s tops for this World Cup than all the Socceroo’s games for last year’s Qatar Cup,” MJ told the crowd.

It’s not too late to call up the family and invite them down to join in the free fun before the game airs on the big screen at 7:30pm.

The entrance is next to SkyCity, right across from the station’s main entrance, and the area is very easy to navigate – with a recreation station immediately to your left as you enter, so the kids can tire themselves out right off the bat.

The main screen is just up from here, on your right, with plenty of seating in front of the screen and more spread across the courtyard.

Dinner is covered by celeb chef Callum Hann, who has curated the festival’s menu.

With food stalls from many of the countries playing in the World Cup, you can get a taste of Spain, or Argentina, or England, or China, or America…

“Between the firepits and the heaters and the cover, there’s so many comfortable spots to come and watch the game, enjoy the food, have a drink and listen to live music,” Callum says.

It’s more than football and food, though.

The festival welcomes three incredible Aussie artists to perform across the month.

To kick off the festivities, Kimbra is playing tomorrow at 9pm, followed by San Cisco on Saturday 5 August at 9pm and Montaigne on Friday 11 August at 9pm.

Don’t let tonight be the only game you get excited about.

Come along to cheer on Australia when we vs Nigeria on 27 July ay 7:30pm and our game against Canada on 31 July at 7:30pm.  Every game of the World Cup is being live streamed.

Grab the full schedule here.

Go Matilda’s!