There is a line in a song that says ” If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. It’s up to you, New York, New York.” Teams from across the globe will get that chance to make it and soccer fans across New York City and New Jersey can sing out loud now that MetLife Stadium has been chosen as one of the official venues for the 2026 World Cup.
The city was the ” Last but not least” city announced on Thursday by the FIFA governing committee as a host for the World Cup and promises to be in the running for a marquee game like the opener or the final.
“This part of the world doesn’t realize what will happen here in 2026,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said at a news conference in Manhattan following the televised announcement. Infantino was coy when he talked about who would ultimately host the final, “New York is definitely a candidate, and so are the 15 other cities as well.”
The 1994 World Cup hosted in the US already has the record for attendance but the 2026 version promises to blow those numbers out of the water. The venues chosen have hug capacity and, although some alterations may have to be made at certain stadiums designed for American football, the stadium capacity should be at a maximum.
For New York/New Jersey there are some logistical hurdles that must be sorted before 2026 but the venue has hosted World Cup Games before.
“We’ve got all the things that FIFA would want in a finals region and stadium, and that’s why we’re going at this hard,” New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said of a group of regional officials that also includes Mayor Eric Adams of New York City.
“They’ll want to know where we have fan fests, what the travel time looks like from their hotels in New York City, under the Hudson, to the stadium in East Rutherford,” Murphy said. “I assume there’s going to be a lot of that. But the mayor and I will be ready for it.”
And so will the whole region. Fans in the whole New York Metropolitan area have been looking forward to this chance for a long time. The region already supports two MLS teams and several smaller clubs.
New York Mayor Eric Adams framed New York’s desire to land the final in economic terms, particularly as part of a recovery from the pandemic, and cultural ones. The World Cup field will expand to 48 teams from 32 beginning in 2026, and Adams said New York could serve as home to any of them.
“It’s really reintroducing the global cousins to their family members here, because you can’t find a country of the 48 that will be vying that’s not represented in our region,” he said.
New York is ready to be reintroduced and to get to know the world.
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