MetLife Stadium — known as New York New Jersey Stadium during the World Cup — has a charmless exterior, awkward transport links and a playing surface described by players and coaches as “dry”, “hard”, “uneven” and “a bit like artificial turf”.
When The Athletic’s team of football writers ranked all 16 venues a week into the tournament, MetLife finished last. Its aesthetics received a score of 4/10, while its transport and location scored 3/10. A return train ticket from Manhattan for a World Cup match also costs $98 (£73).
Despite those drawbacks, FIFA selected it to stage the most-watched sporting event on the planet, with the global audience expected to exceed one billion. Why?
It may have helped that Robert De Niro, a New Yorker, narrated a three-minute, 20-second video presented to a FIFA delegation.
It began with the Statue of Liberty, her torch reaching towards the sky and described as a beacon shining a light on dreams.
“We dare to dream big, really big, because that is what we do in New York and New Jersey,” De Niro, one of the country’s most celebrated actors, said in a video viewed by The Athletic.
He called the sport football rather than soccer before the video cut to the Empire State Building.
“Are we ready to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup?” De Niro asked. “Come on, baby, we were born ready. Our time is now.”
Credit to Adam Crafton, Henry Bushnell and Dan Sheldon for the reporting.
