Photo: Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images
On Sunday, FIFA announced that the 2026 World Cup final — the world’s most highly anticipated sporting event — will be held in the newly dubbed city of “New York New Jersey.” Technically, the final will be hosted at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, which is very much in the New Jersey part of New York New Jersey. But even MetLife stadium, which can hold up to 82,500 people, will be referred to as the “New York New Jersey Stadium” during the event due to FIFA’s policy against non-sponsor brands. (The official FIFA announcement has a helpful section for you to “learn more about New York New Jersey.”)
New York New Jersey beat out Dallas and Los Angeles for the final in a World Cup that will be hosted across North America — starting in Mexico City and then moving to cities including Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, and Miami. (Meanwhile, New York City is building a soccer stadium in Queens, but it won’t be ready until 2027.) The last time the United States hosted the men’s World Cup was in 1994, when the final was held in Pasadena, California; we also hosted the women’s World Cup in 1999 and 2003. It still remains to be seen whether bringing the tournament back to the States will get more Americans to care about the sport, as officials undoubtedly crave.
New Jersey governor Phil Murphy said he “screamed” when he found out about the news. But he should be warned — the last time a huge sporting event was held at MetLife, the 2014 Super Bowl, New Jersey’s mass-transit system was completely overwhelmed, with thousands of fans waiting in lines in packed train stations. Maybe it’s a good time for Murphy to stop spending money fighting congestion pricing — and to shore up New Jersey transit instead.
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