At 9pm on Saturday, shortly after the final whistle blew on Morocco against Brazil at MetLife Stadium, four individuals posed for a photograph.The New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, beaming in the middle, stood alongside Kathy Hochul and Mikie Sherrill, the governors of New York and New Jersey. Completing the set was Alex Lasry, chief executive of the joint New York New Jersey World Cup host committee, tasked with organizing the logistics and operations for eight World Cup games taking place in the region this summer.The smiles betrayed genuine tensions and performative subplots which dominated recent months.Take, for example, the $98 round-trip rail ticket to travel to MetLife Stadium via New Jersey Transit — up more than seven times its usual price. The dispute over the new, FIFA-approved name for the venue during the World Cup — officially New York New Jersey stadium. An official request by New Jersey governor Sherrill for one of two major signs at the stadium to read “New Jersey New York”.Or the flurry of announcements over ticket allocations: first, Mamdani announced 1,000 $50 tickets (the cheapest on sale at the tournament) to be awarded via a lottery for New York residents. Then some New Jersey politicians, according to numerous sources, requested 1,001 tickets for New Jerseyans — taking oneupmanship to its literal definition. In the end, they made do with 770 but these were free, rather than $50.