2026 FIFA World Cup Host City Selection Watch Party at LSP" width="300" height="600" />2026 FIFA World Cup Host City Selection Watch Party at LSP" width="300" height="600" />
Murphy, an avid soccer fan, pushed hard to bring the World Cup — considered the globe’s biggest sporting events — to the Meadowlands in 2026, making an aggressive joint bid with New York City officials.
In 2021, they wooed representatives of FIFA during a tour of the 82,500-seat MetLife Stadium, home of the NFL’s Jets and Giants and host of the 2014 Super Bowl.
They showed them the proposed training and practice facilities throughout the region, including the Pingry School, Rutgers University, and Red Bull Arena in Harrison, the home to the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer.
And they talked about the stadium’s proximity to New York and the center of the world’s media capital. And they bragged about everything else that New York City and the region had to offer in terms of hotels, restaurants, entertainment, and access to international flights.
Murphy said last month the tournament will be “huge” in the region, possibly with Liberty State Park in Jersey City, Times Square in Manhattan, and Prospect Park in Brooklyn hosting fan gatherings.
The governor’s administration estimated the tournament could bring close to $500 million in economic benefits across the Metropolitan area, after accounting for costs.
On Sunday, shortly after the announcement about the final, Murphy said matches at MetLife are projected to generate over $2 billion in economic impact for the New York/New Jersey region, support over 14,000 jobs and bring over 1 million visitors to the region — roughly half of whom will be non-ticketholders.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams also hailed the announcement, saying the final match will be a “generation-defining moment for New York New Jersey, and there’s no better place to host the world’s biggest game than the world’s biggest stage.”
“New York New Jersey is ready for North America to be the center of the soccer world, and the history we’ll be making in 2026 will create lifetime memories for fans, provide new opportunities for our communities, infuse billions into our economy, and help shape our region and propel it forward for decades to come,” Adams said.
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NJ Advance Media staff writers Brent Johnson and Ted Sherman contributed to this report.
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