What’s On This Week
Week of 14–21 June 2026
The World Cup is here. Saudi Arabia plays Uruguay on Tuesday night. Here is everything else worth knowing about this week.
The World Cup
It’s going to be impossible to avoid, and you probably don’t want to. Every match is live on beIN Sports, and fan zones are running across Dubai and Abu Dhabi for the duration.
Fixtures this week (UAE times):
Germany v Curaçao — Sun 14 June, 21:00
Spain v Cape Verde — Mon 15, 20:00
Belgium v Egypt — Mon 15, 23:00
Saudi Arabia v Uruguay — Tue 16, 02:00 ⬅ the Gulf fixture of the week
France v Senegal — Tue 16, 23:00
Argentina v Algeria — Wed 17, 05:00
Portugal v DR Congo — Wed 17, 21:00
Saudi Arabia is the only Gulf side in this tournament. Iran is not in it. That’s the political subtext in one line.
Where to watch in the UAE:
Bla Bla Dubai’s fan zone at JBR is running daily until 19 July — match-day ticket from AED 160 including one drink. Solutions Leisure has turned all four Lock Stock & Barrel venues into free-entry World Cup hubs for the full tournament. McGettigan’s at Bla Bla Dubai anchors the wider watch-party map.
UAE kick-off times · Bla Bla Dubai fan zone · Lock Stock & Barrel · Watch-party map
Food & Drink
Nine new Dubai restaurants have opened or are opening this month — including Pier Club at Dubai Marina (Wed–Sun, 4 pm–3 am) and a new Hyatt Place outlet on Al Mina St (daily, 12 pm–1 am). Nine launches in a World Cup month. Dubai’s hospitality industry is not resting.
New Dubai restaurant openings, June 2026
Music
Gipsy Kings by André Reyes — Coca-Cola Arena, Sunday 21 June. The ‘Viva El Arte’ 2026 tour closes the week at the Coca-Cola Arena. A Sunday-night flamenco/rumba set — the most marquee Dubai concert date until autumn.
Gipsy Kings at Coca-Cola Arena
Art
Final week — 41st Emirates Fine Arts Society Annual Exhibition, Sharjah Art Museum, closes Thursday 18 June. The most important Emirati artist platform on the calendar. If you haven’t been yet, this is your last chance.
Closing fortnight — Jumana Emil Abboud, The Storyteller and the Obedient Tide, Jameel Arts Centre, through 28 June. Palestinian artist Jumana Emil Abboud’s solo show at Jameel Arts Centre. The most significant UAE solo so far in 2026.
Architecture & Cities
Desert Architecture MENA Forum, Al Habtoor Grand, 18–19 June. Foster + Partners, Killa Design, Arup, SOM, and HOK in the same room, discussing climate-responsive urbanism in the Gulf. Worth paying attention to.
Desert Architecture MENA Forum 2026
Space
MBRSC has opened registrations for its Summer Space Explorer Camp 2026. Separately, a UAEU student experiment on harmonic motion in microgravity was conducted aboard the ISS last week by NASA astronaut Christopher Williams in the Kibo module — as part of JAXA’s Asian Try Zero-G 2025. Good week for the UAE’s space pipeline.
MBRSC Summer Space Explorer Camp · UAEU ISS experiment
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