World Cup fans will have many options for where they can watch the final match on Sunday starting at 2 p.m. One of the few limits on where to go will involve allegiance — to France or Italy, the finalists.

Fans of the French may not want to venture near parts of the city known for their Italian-American residents, like Little Italy in Manhattan and Bensonhurst and Williamsburg in Brooklyn.

“Eighteenth Avenue in Brooklyn between 65th and 85th streets — there are a lot of bars that are going to be packed. That’s where all the Italians were living for a while out there,” a bartender at Mulberry Street Bar, Larry Gagli, who is part Italian, said. Mulberry Street Bar and a number of other cafes and restaurants in Little Italy — No. 28 at 28 Carmine St. is the Italian hub, according to a World Cup Web site (the French hub is said to be Jolie Restaurant in Brooklyn) — will be showing the game. The manager of Caffe Palermo, John Delutro, said the game would be on a 50-inch plasma TV with surround sound. Mr. Delutro said he expects his 1,000 square foot café to be jammed with about 75 people on Sunday. “It is one big happy party — they are all Italians,” Mr. Delutro said. “I have a full house for all the games and my floor rattles.”

Employees at restaurants and bars say more Americans than ever are coming out to follow this year’s World Cup. “The World Cup is bigger and better — we have done two World Cups total,” Victor Boyd, an owner of Iona, a bar on Grand Street in Williamsburg that offers a barbecue for all the World Cup games, said. “The U.S. games were huge. Americans have definitely become bigger soccer fans and are more aware of the game now.” Mr. Boyd said there has been a fairly mixed crowd watching the games.

A chef at Teodora, Giancarlo Quadalti, said he would be watching the game at an Italian friend’s home. He pointed out that Sunday is a day Italians stay home and get together with family. “Some Italians will go out, but I think most of them will watch the game at home with friends because the game is at 2 o’clock — so they will have a barbecue or something,” Mr. Quadalti said.

Restaurant and bar owners might disagree with that statement, as some of those that take reservations have run out of room. “We have been booked up for a long time — we have refused about 200 people,” the owner of Le Streghe, Teresa Rovito, said. The French manager of the Italian restaurant I Tre Merli, Marc Minet, said the restaurant will have refused about 1,000 people by Sunday. “I think every French and Italian restaurant will be really crazy and booked,” he said.

Felix and L’Orange Bleue are two popular restaurants in SoHo for French fans. Felix is already booked — even its $200 brunch. The bar area will be open for those who come first and are willing to pay a $20 cover charge. L’Orange Bleue, which is nearby, still has some room for fans.

The ultimate soccer bar for all fans of the game may be Nevada Smith’s near Union Square. It shows soccer — and only soccer — year round. “We have people traveling from all over the country to get here,” Nevada Smith’s manager, Jack Keane, said. “It’s like a rock concert: you stand, and when goals are scored you get covered in beer.”

All the excitement surrounding the World Cup has certainly increased business for city bars and restaurants. “For July, those lunches would be slow, but the World Cup at 3 — it’s extra business after the lunch,” the owner of Le Charlot, Thierry Gelormini, said. Most of the World Cup customers at Le Charlot, located on the Upper East Side, are French except for a few friends, loyal customers, and the occasional celebrity. Tom Hanks might be there to watch the game on Sunday with his family.

The Sicilian manager of L’Angolo Café on Thompson Street said he had to hire a doorman because so many people try to get in. “I wish I had a place for 400 people when Italy plays,” Pino Di-Bartolo said. “I wish the World Cup was every six months.”