By Miguel Rapetti
04 Feb 2024, 23:42 PM EST
The World Cup between the United States, Canada and Mexico already has an official calendar despite being more than two years away from the first match, but one of the biggest news that the presentation left was the announcement that New York would host the final of the tournament in MetLife Stadium on July 19, 2026.
But beyond the surprise that the designation of New York as a city and MetLife Stadium as a venue brought, many fans wanted to know the main characteristics and qualities why FIFA designated it as the venue for the closing of the most important national team tournament in the world. .
In principle, one of the main attractions of the stadium has been the novelty of its facilities, which are less than 15 years old. After being inaugurated in 2010, in the space that was destined for the Giants Stadium, demolished in 2007, it had an investment of $1.6 billion dollars and from the first moment it became an ideal experience for fans of the New York Giants and the New York Jets in the NFL.
The creation of MetLife Stadium resulted in a venue with a capacity for more than 82,000 spectators and thanks to this it has been the home of major sporting events such as the one it will host in 2026.
In addition to being home to the Giants and Jets in the NFL, it was also home to Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014, remembered for the confrontation between the Sounders and Broncos in which the Seattle team beat the Denver team 8-43.
The MetLife Stadium curriculum also extends to soccer and not only for the future event of 2026 but also for the final of the Copa América Centenario of which it hosted the Chilean and Argentine national teams, which was decided by penalties and which The dessert crowned the Australs against the second disappointment that Lionel Messi experienced after losing the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The stadium was also part of other important events such as the 2015 Gold Cup WrestleMania 29 and 35 and will also host matches of the Copa América 2024, which will take place between June and July.
Likewise, it is known as a space for mass events and last 2023 it hosted concerts by the likes of multiple Grammy winner Taylor Swift, with three shows from her world tour The Eras Tour.
As a curiosity, the name MetLife derives from a sponsorship with the life insurance company which has rented the name since 2011 and has a validity of 25 years.
The announcement of New York as the home of the World Cup final was not only celebrated by the city’s more than eight million inhabitants, but also by the city’s main politicians such as the mayor of the Big Apple, Eric Adams, as well as New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.
In addition, while MetLife Stadium will close the 2026 World Cup, FIFA announced that the Azteca stadium in Mexico will begin the competition, which will begin with an impressive inauguration on June 11, 2026.
The 2006 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico will be the first to bring together 48 teams instead of the 32 that have played since France 98 and a record number of 104 matches will be held in total.
Keep reading:
- This is how the calendar for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada was defined
- Designs of the uniforms that Mexico will use in the next Copa América 2024 are filtered on networks
- This is how the groups of the Concacaf Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup were left