The World Cup final will be held at MetLife Stadium in 2026.
FIFA made the news official on Sunday afternoon that the most coveted game of the international tournament will take place in East Rutherford, New Jersey, despite rumors earlier this month that AT&T Stadium would be awarded the final.
FIFA requires that there be natural grass surfaces for all World Cup games and MetLife will be putting it down for the tournament.
MetLife Stadium will go through renovations ahead of the 2026 games and the final will be played on July 19, 2026.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy reacted with excitement in a post on X after the news was announced.
“As a lifelong soccer fan, I am thrilled to announce that the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final will be hosted by New Jersey and New York City!” Murphy wrote.
The New Jersey venue, which is 12 miles outside of New York City and home to the Jets and Giants, beat out cities such as Los Angeles and Dallas.
AT&T Stadium will host the most games of the tournament with nine scheduled to be played at the massive venue and SoFi Stadium will host the United States’ first game on June 12.
Boston, Kansas City, Philadelphia Houston, Seattle and San Francisco will also host games in 2026 in the United States.
The United States, Mexico and Canada are jointly hosting the 2026 World Cup.
Estadio Azteca in Mexico City is the site of the tournament opener on June 11 and BMO Stadium in Toronto will host the first game in Canada the following day.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium and AT&T Stadium will host the 2026 World Cup semifinals.
FIFA officials met last month to discuss the site of the 2026 World Cup final, which led to a report that suggested that AT&T Stadium was selected to host the final.
Officials in Dallas and New York were quick to say that they hadn’t been informed any decision was made by FIFA following the report.
Murphy had told the Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce in October he felt MetLife had a “50/50” chance to land the coveted game.
“But I’d say that’s a 50/50 proposition against Dallas, of all places,” Murphy said at the time. “But that is what it is. We think we’ve got all the compelling case you need to get the finals here.”
MetLife Stadium seats 82,500 fans and has hosted a number of large-scale events since the building opened in 2010.
Super Bowl XLVIII and WrestleMania have been held in East Rutherford, New Jersey and a number of international soccer matches.
Three matches at the 2024 Copa America will be held at MetLife and the New York Red Bulls officials had even briefly considered trying to move their match against Lionel Messi-led Inter Miami CF to MetLife Stadium, due to the high demand for the game.
The announcement marked the first time that a men’s World Cup game will be held in the New York/New Jersey area since 1994, when Giants Stadium hosted seven matches.
Giants Stadium had also been the site of four games during the 1999 Women’s World Cup.
