Countdown to the 2026 FIFA World Cup: New York and New Jersey prepare
NYNJ Host Committee CEO Alex Lasry discusses the countdown to the 2026 FIFA World Cup in New York and New Jersey. It details plans for free fan experiences in five boroughs and New Jersey, with a focus on transit solutions for 1.2 million fans. Lasry confirms that real turf will be installed at MetLife Stadium for the event, highlighting the global excitement surrounding this major sporting event.
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Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Thursday that New York City, in partnership with the NYNJ Host Committee, has secured 1,000 affordable World Cup tickets for New York residents, which can be purchased for $50 each.
At the time of publication, the cheapest Ticketmaster listing for a MetLife Stadium group stage match was $535 for the Norway-Senegal match on June 22.
Ticket holders will also receive free bus transportation to and from the stadium and New York — the committee had recently announced that such a trip would cost $80, while NJ Transit tickets originally cost $150 before private financing brought them down to just under $100.
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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has backed a proposal to tax non-resident-owned luxury second homes, targeting ultra-wealthy owners. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“A World Cup is coming to our backyard and we want to ensure that working New Yorkers have the opportunity to be a part of it,” Mamdani said at a news conference in Harlem on Thursday. “We met with the host committee to make sure this tournament belongs to the people who make this city what it is. Today, 1,000 New Yorkers will enter these stands for $50 and a free bus ride. I’m proud that New York City is leading the way.”
“This program exists because the mayor was determined to ensure that New York workers would be in the stands when the World Cup returned to New York,” said Maya Handa, New York World Cup official. “A kid in the Bronx, a security guard in Queens, a restaurant worker in Brooklyn or Staten Island – they’re going to get into the stadium this summer because their city fought for them to be there.”
Transportation officials are preparing to welcome an unprecedented number of passengers during World Cup matches this summer. (Luke Hales/Getty Images)
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“Mayor Mamdani’s commitment to making the World Cup accessible to everyday New Yorkers…is exactly what it looks like when a city governs for the people,” added Council Member Yusef Salaam.
Tickets will be delivered to winners of a lottery system that will run from May 25 to 29.
FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Mamdani’s announcement.
Mamdani has ripped off “absurd” World Cup prizes in the past.
“What we are seeing is that FIFA’s approach to the World Cup ticketing process is both unprecedented in its own administration of previous World Cups and also an approach that will prevent many New Yorkers from actually being able to get into the stands,” he said last September.
Fireworks light up the sky at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, ahead of the Club World Cup final between Chelsea and PSG on July 13, 2025. (Matt Slocum/AP)
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The tickets, which cannot be resold, will be distributed among the MetLife’s first seven matches before hosting the final on July 19.
