FIFA World Cup Coming To New York / New Jersey

A World Championship is coming to MetLife Stadium and it won't involve the Giants or the Jets. FIFA announced the host cities for the 2026 World Cup on Thursday, with the bid representing New York and New Jersey among the 16 chosen. MetLife will be the "New York" site.

According to newsday.com, Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Philadelphia, Seattle and Kansas City, Missouri, were the newcomers among the 11 U.S. sites picked to host games in 2026, while Arlington, Texas; Foxborough, Massachusetts, and Inglewood and Santa Clara, California, were the holdover sites.

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The U.S. selections included none of the nine stadiums used at the 1994 World Cup. New stadiums were selected in five areas used in 1994. AT&T Stadium in Texas replaced Dallas' Cotton Bowl; SoFi Stadium in Inglewood took over for Pasadena's Rose Bowl; and Levi's Stadium instead of Stanford Stadium.

MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Masschusetts, replaced torn-down stadiums that were adjacent, Giants Stadium and Foxboro Stadium. According to the report on newsday.com, Chicago, which hosted the 1994 opener at Solider Field, refused to bid, citing FIFA's economic demands.

Additional sites outside of the United States will include Mexico City's Estadio Azteca, which newsday.com noted has hosted the 1970 and 1986 finals and will become the first stadium to host three World Cups. Guadalajara's Estadio Akron and Monterrey's Estadio BBVA were also included to the south. In the northern tier in Canada, Toronto's BMO Field and Vancouver, British Columbia's B.C. Place were picked. The bid plan envisioned 60 games in the U.S., including all from the quarterfinals on, and 10 each in Mexico and Canada.

Specific sites and dates for each round will be announced later. The World Cup at MetLife Stadium will be a big boost for the New York City tourism economy. The world will be watching.