With the 2026 FIFA World Cup being hosted in the United States, Mexico and Canada, it opens the door for American fans to get a real World Cup experience. This year is the end of FIFA’s four-year cycle, meaning the FIFA World Cup is almost here. Soccer fans, or as some people call it, football, have been eagerly waiting to cheer on their home country and their favorite teams in the tournament since the last World Cup in 2022.
The FIFA World Cup is held all across the globe. The last time the U.S. hosted the FIFA World Cup was during the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Mexico hosted the FIFA World Cup in 1970 and Canada is hosting its first FIFA World Cup this year.
The first match of the tournament will be in Mexico City; Team Mexico vs. South Africa. MetLife Stadium, which has been temporarily renamed to New York New Jersey Stadium, will host the FIFA World Cup Final on July 19 as well as seven other matches.
Ndiaga Seck, a junior and team Senegal fan, plans on going to the Senegal vs. France match on June 16. He is rooting for Team Senegal because Senegal is his home country.
“Tickets are six-hundred dollars,’’ he said. “It’s the cheapest ticket but it’s reasonable because the World Cup only happens every four years.”
New Yorkers who are feeling lucky may have a cheaper option. On May 21, Mayor Mamdani announced that $50 World Cup tickets will be held for 1,000 New York City residents. The tickets will be spread across seven games – approximately 150 tickets per game. New Yorkers ages 15 and up are welcome to register for a lottery starting at 10 a.m. on May 25 until 5 p.m, on May 30. Lottery winners will be notified on June 3 via email, allowing them to buy two tickets.
Link to Register: https://regnyctix.com/
Don’t have a ticket or want to fight the traffic? Mayor Mamdani is hosting free watch parties in all five boroughs on different dates:
- Bronx Terminal Market: June 13 and 14
- Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens: June 11 to June 27
- Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, July 6 to July 19
- Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn, June 13 to July 19
- Staten Island University Hospital Community Park: June 29 to July 2
Due to the expected surge of soccer fans that will flood public transportation to get to Metlife Stadium, the New Jersey Transit plans on temporarily shutting down a section of Penn Station to prioritize ticket holders. Starting in June and July, access will be restricted four hours before the games.
Controversy has been sparked online between Americans and Europeans because of how Europeans plan to get around paying the $150 roundtrip fare (almost 12x the normal $12.90) to get from NYC to MetLife Stadium. European fans travelling to the United States for the World Cup Final plan on walking to MetLife Stadium through surrounding highways like Route-3 and I-95, unaware of the heavy traffic and “race track that is awaiting them… “ , social media users exclaim.
Fans also care about the music: The “World Cup song” is arguably one of the most enjoyable parts of the tournament. But recently, fans have noticed that the songs in the past few World Cups have been mediocre compared to iconic songs such as Shakira’s “Waka Waka,’’ the world cup song in 2010. Aaron Rodriguez –a junior, hasn’t heard the 2026 World Cup Song, but thinks no song will top Shakira’s “Waka Waka.”
