13
JUN
GROUP C · MD1★ Brazil's opener
🇧🇷Brasilvs🇲🇦Morocco
Group stage · the first South American giant on US soil
18:00 ET22:00 GMT · FS1
82,500
Capacity (WC config)
8
WC 2026 matches hosted
2010
Opened · $1.6 B build
Grass
Surface · converted for WC
5 mi
West of Manhattan
02 · The Soul
An NFL cathedral about to lift a football cup.
For three weeks in July 2026, the most famous concrete bowl in American sport stops being a football stadium and becomes the football stadium. The world's most-watched match will end here.
The only joint NFL stadium — the Giants and the Jets share it, a New Jersey arrangement no other city in the league has ever copied. MetLife opened in 2010 for $1.6 billion: the most expensive stadium ever built at the time.
It has hosted a Super Bowl (the coldest ever), WrestleMania (largest-ever crowd), Copa América Centenario, a papal Mass, and the biggest tours of the 2020s. July 19 adds the one trophy missing from the cabinet.
The brief from FIFA was clean: more grass, more sightlines, more capacity. The pitch was ripped up, regrown from a Wisconsin sod farm, and installed three weeks before kickoff. The seats stay where they are. The view does not.
03 · The Fixtures · 8 matches
Every game played here.
From the Brazilian opener on matchday one to the trophy lift on July 19 — every confirmed and projected fixture MetLife will host during the tournament.
16
JUN
GROUP I · MD1★ The 2002 rematch
🇸🇳Sénégalvs🇫🇷France
Group stage · Mbappé vs Koulibaly, the old grudge replayed
15:00 ET19:00 GMT · FOX
22
JUN
GROUP I · MD2
🇸🇳Sénégalvs🇳🇴Norway
Group stage · Haaland's first WC kick on US soil
20:00 ET00:00 GMT (23rd)
27
JUN
GROUP K · MD3★ Group decider
🇵🇹Portugalvs🇨🇴Colombia
Final group game · likely worth top spot
15:00 ET19:00 GMT · FOX
05
JUL
ROUND OF 16★ Knockout begins
Group A winnervsGroup B / C 2nd
Single elimination · winner advances to QF
16:00 ET20:00 GMT
11
JUL
QUARTER-FINAL★ Last 8
TBD · R16 winnervsTBD · R16 winner
The fixture an entire half of the bracket leads to
15:00 ET19:00 GMT
14
JUL
SEMI-FINAL★ Last 4
QF winnervsQF winner
90 minutes from playing here on the 19th
15:00 ET19:00 GMT
19
JUL
🏆 THE FINAL★ The one
Champion-in-waitingvsChampion-in-waiting
FIFA World Cup 2026 Final · the trophy is lifted here
15:00 ET19:00 GMT · GLOBAL
04 · The Map
Pinned.
The stadium, where to eat, where to drink, where to sleep, and how to get out. Every entry links straight to Google Maps directions.
🏆MetLife Stadium
—Stadium · Meadowlands
2026 FIFA World Cup Final venue. Joint home of NY Giants & Jets. Capacity 82,500.
🚆Meadowlands Sports Complex Station
0.2 miTransit · Meadowlands
NJ Transit shuttle station. Runs event days only — change at Secaucus Junction.
🛍American Dream Meadowlands
0.3 miShopping · Meadowlands
Massive mall right next door. Food court, theme park, indoor ski slope, ice rink. Pre-match killer time.
🛏Sheraton Meadowlands
0.6 miHotels · Meadowlands
The closest full-service hotel to the stadium. Event-day shuttle to the gate.
🛏Embassy Suites Secaucus
2.2 miHotels · Meadowlands
Two miles south. Walking distance from Secaucus Junction. Free breakfast, pool, friendly to large groups.
🍽Park & Orchard
1.2 miRestaurants · Meadowlands
East Rutherford classic since 1982. Massive wine list, hearty American plates. Book ahead for matchdays.
🍺Redd's Restaurant
2.4 miBars · Meadowlands
Carlstadt sports-bar institution. 30+ taps, packed two hours before kickoff. The locals' choice.
🍽Houlihan's Secaucus
2.7 miRestaurants · Meadowlands
Chain reliability, ample parking, walkable from the train. The "no surprises" pick.
🍽Andiamo Hasbrouck Heights
3.0 miRestaurants · Meadowlands
Italian, group bookings, white tablecloth. The "we're here for the football" team-dinner spot.
🍺The Hangar Bar & Grill
3.5 miBars · Meadowlands
Lyndhurst neighbourhood bar with a great beer list and every screen tuned to the right channel.
🎉Liberty State Park · Fan Festival
9 miFan zones · New York
The official FIFA Fan Festival venue for the metro. Statue of Liberty backdrop, big screens, food trucks.
🎉Times Square Fan Zone
7 miFan zones · New York
Mid-Manhattan official viewing. Best for vibes before/after, terrible for actual football-watching.
✈Newark Liberty (EWR)
11 miAirports · New Jersey
The closest airport to the stadium. 25-minute drive off-peak; full AirTrain rail link to Penn Station.
✈JFK International
24 miAirports · Queens, NY
The other big New York airport. Pair it with a NYC base if Newark is full.
06 · Getting There
Three ways in.
Public transit only runs on event days. Drive only if you have to. **Stay in NYC if you can.**
🚆 From Manhattan / Penn Station
NJ Transit · the easy one
45 mindoor to gate
$11.25one-way
15 minfrequency
1
Take any NJT train from NY Penn Station west.
2
Change at Secaucus Junction.
3
Board the Meadowlands Rail Line shuttle — runs event-days only.
4
3 minutes to Meadowlands Sports Complex station — 200 m walk to Gate A.
🚗 From Newark / EWR
Drive · or rideshare
25 minoff-peak
$40+parking on-site
9 lotscolour-coded
1
I-95 N → exit 16W (NJ Turnpike).
2
Pre-paid parking strongly recommended · gates open 4 hours before kickoff.
3
Uber/Lyft drop at American Dream rideshare zone — 8 min walk to the stadium.
🚌 From Port Authority Bus Terminal
NJ Transit 351 · the local pick
30 mindirect
$7.50one-way
10 minevent freq.
1
Board the 351 Meadowlands Express at Port Authority (8th Ave).
2
One-stop ride straight to Stadium Drive.
3
Pro tip: faster than the train on big matchdays — Secaucus changeover gets ugly.
07 · The Pitch & the Stands
The bowl, re-tuned for football.
The biggest pitch retrofit in NFL stadium history. Out: 13 years of FieldTurf. In: a custom Wisconsin-grown grass blend, three weeks before the first whistle.
Field specifications
// FIFA-spec for WC 2026
SurfaceNatural grass · Kentucky Bluegrass blend
SourceTuckahoe Turf Farms, Hammonton NJ
Dimensions105m × 68m (FIFA standard)
RoofOpen · no climate control
LightingLED · 2,500 lux @ centre circle
Pitch installed3 weeks before opener
After WCReverts to FieldTurf for NFL season
LowerClubUpperVIP
08 · The History
Before it was a football venue.
MetLife wasn't built for the beautiful game — but a lot has already happened here. The biggest moments before WC 2026, in reverse.
2026
🏆 FIFA World Cup · The Final · July 19
The trophy lifts here.
The eighth match of the tournament at MetLife — and the one that ends it. 82,500 in attendance, a billion more watching.
2024
🏆 Copa América Final · Argentina 1–0 Colombia
Messi's tears, Lautaro's goal.
Argentina retained the continental crown on extra-time pain. A useful World Cup rehearsal — and the night MetLife's crowd-management gaps got their loudest public airing.
2023
🎤 Concerts · 6 nights · 540,000 fans
The Eras Tour · 3 nights.
Taylor Swift sold out three nights in May. Beyoncé's Renaissance Tour added two more in July. The bowl as cultural capital.
2016
🏆 Copa América Centenario · QF · Argentina 4–1 Venezuela
South America rolls through.
The first big international football tournament at MetLife. Messi orchestrated it. A clear template for what 2026 would feel like.
2015
⛪ Papal Mass · Pope Francis
80,000 in silence.
A Friday evening mass during Pope Francis's US tour. The largest religious gathering in New Jersey history.
2014
🏈 Super Bowl XLVIII · Seattle 43–8 Denver
The coldest Super Bowl ever.
The first cold-weather, open-air Super Bowl in history. Kickoff temp: 49°F (9°C). Seattle ran riot. The crowd-management lessons from this night still shape how MetLife runs game days.
2013
🤼 WrestleMania 29 · 80,676 in attendance
The largest WrestleMania ever.
The Rock vs John Cena II. The single biggest crowd MetLife has ever held. The benchmark for "we can absolutely do this with people, not pads".
2010
🏟 Opening · Jets 9–10 Giants
The doors open.
A pre-season scrimmage between the two tenants. Opening cost: $1.6 billion — the most expensive stadium in American sport at the time of opening.
★ The deepest line on this file
The Final.
Sunday · 19 July 2026 · 15:00 ET
46
Days
05
Hours
33
Minutes
29
Seconds
until 22 men play 90 minutes for everything.
09 · Stadium trivia
Six facts that travel well.
Drop these in the line at the concession stand. Look like you know things.
The only joint NFL stadium
The Giants and Jets share it 50/50. No other NFL franchise pair in history has co-owned a building like this. New Jersey, as ever, doing what New York couldn't agree on.
The coldest Super Bowl, ever
2014's SB XLVIII kicked off at 49°F (9°C) — the lowest in Super Bowl history. The NFL hasn't trusted a cold-weather open-air final since. WC 2026 won't have that problem.
The grass moved 1,400 miles
The natural-grass field for WC 2026 was grown at Tuckahoe Turf Farms in Hammonton, NJ and trucked in. After the tournament, it gets ripped out and FieldTurf goes back down for NFL season.
$1.6 billion to build
When it opened in 2010, MetLife was the most expensive stadium ever built in the United States. SoFi (Los Angeles) has since taken that crown — by a factor of three.
A train station that only runs on event days
The Meadowlands Rail Line is a unique creature: it has no scheduled service. It opens only when an event is on, runs straight to Secaucus, and shuts the moment the crowd is cleared.
Bigger than the Maracanã for the Eras Tour
Taylor Swift's three MetLife nights in 2023 drew ~210,000 fans — more than the Maracanã held for the 1950 World Cup Final. The biggest single-tour stand at the stadium, ever.
The deepest truth in the file
Eight matches. Five weeks.One grass field brought 1,400 milesso the world can decide its champion here.
Host venue2026 Final82,500 capacityJoint NFL homeMeadowlandsFive miles from Manhattan