NJ Governor reveals chances of MetLife Stadium hosting 2026 FIFA World Cup

The 2026 Men's World Cup will be here before you know it, and the competition to be part of the tournament isn't confined to players.

FIFA has been evaluating the bids to host the tournament's final from MetLife Stadium, the home of the New York Giants and Jets located in New Jersey, and AT&T Stadium, the mammoth home of the Dallas Cowboys long dubbed "Jerry World" after team owner Jerry Jones.

Speaking at an event sponsored by the Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce on Friday, New Jersey governor Phil Murphy said that he believes MetLife Stadium "has a 50-50 chance" of hosting the final, which is scheduled to take place on Sunday, July 19, 2026. 

“We are still competing aggressively,” he said, according to Return on Information - New Jersey, a commerce-focused news site. “I’d say that’s a 50-50 proposition against Dallas, of all places, but it is what it is.”

It's notable that Murphy said "of all places" regarding Dallas for two reasons. Based strictly on sports, it harkens back to the NFC East rivalry between the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys. New Jersey and Texas are competing just as hard pushing to show the world the grandeurs of their stadiums as the teams who play in them are during the NFL season.

Yet you could also note the political subtext in Murphy's words. On Tuesday, Murphy, a former Goldman Sachs executive who served as the U.S. ambassador to Germany under Barack Obama, told Jake Nisse of the Daily Mail that the NYC metropolitan region would be a greater host for the final game because of the area's public embrace of immigrants:

"The Greater New York/New Jersey area is as diverse as any area in the United States, and there are soccer fanatics by the millions," Murphy exclusively told Mail Sport on Tuesday. "We've done big scale events before. We have a great relationship with Eric Adams and his team in New York City. Frankly we also have the right values. We care, we are a welcoming, diverse, immigrant-friendly, right-side-of-history on values region — both New York City and New Jersey."

Texas, New York and New Jersey have been in the middle of a lengthy political show — with real-life impact — over immigration and border control. Since the summer of 2022, Texas governor Greg Abbott has sent buses of migrants to liberal-leaning cities such as New York City, Chicago and Washington D.C. as part of his strategy to address the flow of people immigrating from Mexico and Central American countries. The policy has been blasted by progressive critics, immigration groups and governors such as Murphy as "inhumane."