The 2026 World Cup ultimate shall be performed at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on July 19, FIFA introduced on Sunday.

Seth Wenig/AP

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Seth Wenig/AP

The 2026 World Cup ultimate shall be performed at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on July 19, FIFA introduced on Sunday.

Seth Wenig/AP

The 2026 World Cup ultimate will happen at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium to cap a match set in cities throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico, soccer’s worldwide governing physique FIFA announced Sunday.

The ultimate shall be performed on July 19 on the East Rutherford, N.J., stadium. Mexico City will host the opener of the 104-game match at Estadio Azteca on June 11.

During the occasion, although, the 82,500-capacity stadium shall be formally known as the “New York New Jersey Stadium” to adjust to the FIFA’s policy against non-sponsor corporate names.

It’s a World Cup of firsts. For the primary time, the match will broaden to incorporate 48 groups, up from the 32 team-format held for the previous seven tournaments. It may also be the primary time the match is staged throughout three host nations. Beyond the New York-New Jersey advanced, 15 other major cities were picked to host the World Cup matches.

MetLife Stadium, house to the New York Jets and Giants, hosted the Super Bowl in 2014 and the Copa América Centenario ultimate in 2016.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy celebrated the announcement on social media.

“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!” Gov. Murphy said in a tweet.

When native officers first made their pitch to play host for the World Cup ultimate, they emphasised the stadium’s proximity to New York City as a media hub with central entry to accommodations, eating places, leisure and worldwide flights.

As for the U.S. Men’s National Team, they may have the fortune of sticking to the identical time zone to start out their World Cup journey. The staff’s first match is at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium on June 12. After that, they’re going to head to Seattle for his or her second match, earlier than returning to LA for the ultimate group play spherical on June 26.

“It’s great to finally learn where we will be for the group stage. It really starts to bring things to life,” USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter stated throughout a press convention. “We would have been happy with any of the venues because we know the home support is going to be incredible.”

Whether or not his staff makes it to the ultimate sport, Berhalter — a New Jersey native — says of the venue choose: “It’s a dream come true for me.”