In five days, one of Argentina, England, France, or Spain will hoist the World Cup trophy alongside President Donald Trump in New Jersey.
MetLife Stadium will host the World Cup final on July 19. It will be the eighth match of the tournament in the home of the NFL’s Jets and Giants located across the Hudson River from New York City.
The “battle” to host the final, in the words of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, came down to Dallas and New Jersey. Dallas would’ve meant an indoor, climate-controlled match, but FIFA opted for New York City—or as it calls the stadium, “New York New Jersey.”
Opened in 2010, MetLife generally did not get the glowing reviews from World Cup visitors that newer stadiums in Los Angeles and Atlanta have. Both of those have unique and impressive architecture, with a translucent roof in Los Angeles designed to keep temperatures down while letting a breeze in, and a unique “iris-style” roof in Atlanta. MetLife’s most distinctive feature might be the enormous black speakers hanging over the field. Both The Athletic and Sports Illustrated ranked it as the worst venue in the entire tournament.
MetLife is also among the least accessible venues in the tournament, even more so after FIFA eliminated much of the parking around the stadium. With NJ Transit pricing the 13-mile, hour-long train from Penn Station at $98 round trip—up from the usual $12.90—the agency has not been coming close to its 40,000-rider per match capacity. The host committee’s $20 buses, funded in part by New York state, have been largely sold out, though post-match traffic has slowed journeys home.
