If the children assembled on a hot July day at MetLife Stadium listened closely, they might have been able to hear the cheers of Argentina fans, whose heroes had hours earlier used a goal by legendary striker Lionel Messi to subdue Canada in a 2024 Copa America tournament semifinal game at the stadium.
More than 700 young soccer players dribbled, passed and shot, just as Messi had, during a clinic designed to boost awareness of the eight 2026 World Cup games—including the final—that will take place in East Rutherford.
“The smiles on the kids’ faces, whether they were just learning the game or if they had been playing it for 10 years, showed how excited they were about what’s to come,” says Lauren LaRusso, New York New Jersey 2026 World Cup host committee manager and general counsel.
While the majority of fans will focus on the results of the 48-nation tournament, local municipalities, boroughs, towns and businesses will hope to profit from the world’s biggest sporting spectacle. Meanwhile, planners and administrators will handle an avalanche of logistical, security and communications challenges.
“This will be the biggest sports event in history for the region and the [region’s] biggest economic event in history, especially since we are getting eight games, including the final,” says Wes Mathews, president and CEO of ChooseNJ and president of the Host Committee Board.
A spirited group of fans at Mulligan’s Pub in Hoboken take in a soccer match between Tottenham and Arsenal this fall. Photo: Bryan Anselm
The tournament will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada, but its heartbeat will be contained in the concentric circles around MetLife Stadium. People of nearly 200 nationalities live within that region, many of whom are soccer fans. Thanks in part to New Jersey governor Phil Murphy—himself a soccer lover—the host committee was able to convince FIFA, the world’s soccer-governing body, to stage the final at MetLife.
“When [New York mayor] Eric Adams and Murphy heard the final was going to be in Arlington [Texas], they asked [FIFA president] Gianni Infantino to make one more trip to the area,” Mathews says. “They put him in front of some of the most powerful CEOs in the world and showed him why the final should be at MetLife.”
Staging the games will require a battalion of volunteers (10,000, according to LaRusso) and significant planning on myriad fronts. MetLife Stadium hosted Super Bowl XLVIII in February 2014. This is like hosting eight Super Bowls in just over five weeks, as Mathews puts it.
“We are saying the world will be at our doorstep in 2026 and will be watching,” LaRusso says. “We have one of the greatest opportunities of our lifetime to showcase New York and New Jersey and what we have to offer. “We will be making sure the world knows about us.”
In 1994, Giants Stadium hosted Italy and Ireland in the region’s first-ever World Cup matchup, and Jim Kirkos was there. Kirkos had been a member of the ’94 host committee, but the game was his first experience with international soccer.
“It was all new to me,” says Kirkos, who is president and CEO of the Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce. “I never understood how big the game was and how big the World Cup was. I could not believe the passion. I was hooked.”
During Kirkos’s 22 years with the Meadowlands chamber, he has “learned a lot about hosting big events,” including the Super Bowl. That accumulated knowledge will help him and his staff coordinate businesses that want to benefit from the World Cup experience.
At Mulligan’s Pub in Hoboken, owner Paul Dawson—inspired by a mural in his native Dublin—commissioned Hoboken artist Benny Azateca to paint this piece on the pub for the 2018 World Cup. Photo: Bryan Anselm
The chamber will use social media and other marketing strategies to make sure visitors know where to “eat, drink, stay and shop,” and that area businesses are prepared. Some are ready to go right now. David Moncada, a bartender at Mulligan’s Pub in Hoboken, which bills itself as NJ’s premier football bar, anticipates the street in front of the establishment will be closed on World Cup game days, creating a block-party vibe. “We expect we will have more people at the bar, more fans watching, and more memories,” Moncada says. “In New Jersey, people know this is the place to be for games.”
Mulligan’s owner Paul Dawson says that he expects a diverse crowd of fans like the bar usually attracts from the area. “Soccer is the world’s most popular sport,” says the Dublin native. “It keeps everyone together. It’s the universal language. It connects people from Europe to South America to Asia and everywhere else.”
Soccer is the world’s “universal language,” Dawson says. Photo: Bryan Anselm
In Carlstadt, Redd’s Restaurant boasts more than 50 TVs and is packed whenever MetLife holds an event. For the World Cup, it will be a nonstop party, and fans of every country will be welcome.
“It is a great opportunity,” owner Doug Palsi says. “Anytime there’s an event at MetLife Stadium, we do great. When you throw the biggest sporting event ever, it’s even bigger. “We’re thrilled to welcome the world.”
Kirkos wants the region’s ethnic-themed restaurants to create special events built around games. He hopes neighborhoods and municipalities will turn local streets into soccer festivals. For MetLife’s five preliminary-round games, the chamber will designate “flag cities” that adopt various countries and host events for their fans.
“We want to make people feel welcome,” Kirkos says. “We want to embrace the game. At the end of the day, whether visitors come from outside the region or from neighboring towns, as long as the door opens and closes a lot, we will be happy, because there will be economic impact.”
One study predicted there will be a $2 billion infusion from the World Cup, which will support more than 14,000 jobs—but that revenue estimate could be low. It comes at an up-front price. A total of $67.5 million has been allocated by the state to the New Jersey Sports and Exhibition Authority to cover costs for fiscal years 2023-2025, and $30.7 million will go to stadium improvements, such as widening the playing surface and growing and installing a grass field. (MetLife has an artificial turf field.) The state also earmarked $38.5 million for New Jersey Transit to expand transportation options around MetLife Stadium.
There will be further capital needs as the World Cup approaches, with Murphy’s office reporting that significant funding will come from private and corporate sources.
“The cost of hosting these historic games will represent only a fraction of the total benefit,” says Natalie Hamilton, spokesperson for Murphy.
All efforts must take place within the stringent requirements of FIFA, which is draconian in its protection of sponsors and the event brand.
A May article in the Athletic detailed some of the FIFA mandates, such as complete control of MetLife from 30 days before the first game played there until seven days after the final. All existing advertising must be removed from the stadium, which will be referred to as NYNJ Stadium for the duration of the games, and FIFA will manage the tickets for each game.
All businesses around the venue must be open on game days. Kirkos says FIFA has outlined its requirements clearly and is “listening to us” regarding how commercial entities can benefit from the event. Bruce Revman, co-host committee manager, says that while FIFA’s regulations are stringent, there is room for compromise.
“Lauren and I have been working with FIFA for five years, and we usually get to the place where we need to be,” Revman says. “They are actually good partners.”
Security is even more important. At the Copa America final in July, there was chaos at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami as countless fans attempted to enter without tickets, causing a game delay and stadium damage. The semifinal matchup between Uruguay and Colombia in Charlotte featured violence in the stands.
Not long after the trouble at Hard Rock, Murphy appeared on ESPN while visiting Germany during the Euro 2024 tournament to give assurances the state will “take every precaution,” and that MetLife will be “really safe and secure.” The stadium’s history of staging big events safely should engender confidence.
“We work with a sophisticated stadium staff and also law enforcement,” LaRusso says. “Law enforcement is embedded in the stadium, particularly on the field. You don’t see that in every stadium. We approach it differently. Counterterrorism and law enforcement is woven into the stadium.”
There is a grass-roots component, too. As the youth clinic showed in July, there is a goal of helping to grow the sport throughout New Jersey. That means giving underserved communities a chance to experience soccer.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our entire region,” Murphy says. “Hosting the final and seven other matches provides NYNJ an unparalleled platform to brilliantly showcase what we stand for: diversity, equity access and inclusion.”
That is the mandate FIFA required when nations were bidding to host the World Cup, according to Ed Foster-Simeon, president and CEO of the U.S. Soccer Foundation. The foundation is committed to providing opportunities for youth, especially those without easy access to the sport. Foster-Simeon says the region is aiming to build 26 new fields, reach 25,000 young people, and train 1,000 coaches/mentors. “Look at the U.S. Soccer Foundation,” he says. “It was created in 1994 as a legacy of the World Cup, and we have invested more than $125 million to ensure the growth of the game in the country. In recent years, we have focused on kids who don’t have the resources to participate. It’s a perfect example of what can be the legacy, something that endures and continues and adds value to the community. We’re hoping 2026 can be a catalyst for the same kind of change.”
And, local officials hope, a financial boon for area businesses.
Michael Bradley is a writer based in suburban Philadelphia and an assistant instructor at Villanova.
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