With MetLife Stadium selected to host seven of the 2026 FIFA World Cup games, including the Final, the NY-NJ-CT metropolitan region faces a host of logistical challenges and opportunities to accelerate progress in long-term regional needs while preparing to host such a global event.

On June 25, 2024, RPA hosted a panel featuring five leaders in global event planning and production who drew on expertise from their work on previous World Cups and Olympic Games:

• Sara Candiracci, Associate Director in Arup’s Cities, Planning and Design team in Milan and the Global Leader for Social Value and Equity;

• Greg Clark, co-founder of The Business of Cities and Chair of the Connected Places Catapult (CPC) in the United Kingdom;

• AJ Colletti, a member of the Executive Leadership Team at Arcadis who served as the State of Qatar Sr. Advisor to the President for the National Public Works Authority and as the Major Programs Delivery Lead for both the 2022 World Cup and Qatar’s 2020 Olympic Bid;

• Beatriz Garcia, a member of the Culture & Olympic Heritage Commission of the International Olympic Committee; and

• Nic Merridew, Director of Arup’s Host Cities team.

With less than two years left before the first game of the tournament, it is critical that planning be efficient, thoughtful, and comprehensive. To that end, we’ve summarized the highlights from this engaging discussion as summer officially comes to a close this week and the region gears up for a busy autumn.

The webinar primarily focused on the planning and coordination required to create a lasting legacy for host countries. Panelists discussed transferable lessons for the World Cup in 2026, along with some key recommendations for New York and New Jersey. The discussion was largely based on experience drawn from other cities where international sporting events have been held in the recent past.

Placemaking and Local Communities

The World Cup serves as an opportunity to celebrate how the sport brings together communities from all over the world and to showcase the local culture and diversity. Panelists highlighted the importance of finding communities in the region that can welcome, for the first time in World Cup history, 48 teams from different nations. As Arup’s Nic Merridew observed, the tournament is, ​“a once in a generation opportunity to showcase the diversity, culture, and energy that New York and New Jersey have to offer the world.”

Panelists also emphasized the importance of anticipating the expectations and needs of both visitors and locals. AJ Colletti stressed the significance of using the World Cup as an opportunity to challenge people’s preconceptions of the region (for instance, only associating New York with Manhattan and New Jersey with the Meadowlands) and expand the world’s image of the region beyond what it is conventionally known for. Based on her experience working with the International Olympic Committee, Beatriz Garcia explained that local communities can feel upstaged and unwelcome in event festivities, which is why it is critical to, ​“reflect not only on the kinds of expectations and needs of your visitors, but also the needs of your locals, especially when thinking around the cultural programming and festive atmosphere of a mega event like the World Cup.” Garcia also highlighted that in addition to including locals in festivities, there is also an essential obligation to include them in cultural programming and consider how they will be impacted by World Cup preparations in their city or region.

Sara Candiracci and AJ Colletti suggested engaging with local stakeholders who may not necessarily be directly related to the sport of football/soccer, but can contribute to the overall legacy of the event. Some of the examples included engaging with small businesses and downtown business improvement districts and elevating local soccer teams and youth clinics.

Sustainability of the World Cup

Sustainability is a major concern for the 2026 World Cup, especially since MetLife Stadium is located in the Meadowlands, an environmentally sensitive area.

Sara highlighted how the 2024 Olympics in Paris is a leading example of a sporting event that is prioritizing the reduction of its carbon footprint: 95% of the venues are existing or temporary structures, and all the venues are accessible by public transit.

Other sustainability initiatives suggested by the panelists included local efforts such as community hiking groups to promote ecotourism and as well as larger infrastructure initiatives such as arranging public exhibitions at venues to encourage waste reduction and recycling, exploring retrofitting existing infrastructure to incorporate renewable energy sources, and encouraging visitors to use sustainable forms of travel to and from the stadium. This can be achieved by enhancing the public transportation system for the World Cup, such as increasing the frequency of buses and trains, deploying electric shuttles to and from the stadium, and incentivizing travelers with discounted/free fares for game ticket holders. Other ideas include more active transportation to Metlife Stadium and creating pedestrian zones, a challenge given the stadium’s location and surrounding highway network.

Coordination Among Regional Transportation and Transit Agencies

Public Transit will be a key mode of travel for people attending the 2026 World Cup, so it’s crucial that NJ Transit will be able to assure reliability, especially on game days.

NJ Transit recently previewed what tens of thousands of fans commuting to MetLife Stadium may be like in 2026, with New Jersey hosting three of the 2024 Copa América matches in June. NJ Spotlight News took NJ Transit from New York City to MetLife Stadium, observing issues such as train schedules being only available in English, unclear instructions on where to purchase tickets, and last-minute train track number announcements. One fan commented on the lack of air conditioning making the interior of the trains even hotter than outdoor temperatures: ​“It was hot. The AC didn’t work. I felt like I was in Argentina on the way to watch Boca Juniors play.”

There are currently several separate transportation agencies across the region, such as NYCDOT, NJDOT, Amtrak, NJ Transit, and Port Authority, that will need to coordinate before the tournament to efficiently meet the increased demand for transportation during the games. AJ emphasized the importance of cooperation across state lines to form backup plans to handle cases of unexpected incidents such as electricity outages affecting options for transportation. Nic brought up the 2012 London Olympics as an example of separate transit systems integrating in preparation for the Olympics, citing a 15% improvement in London’s transport operations since.

Region’s Reputational Risk, Legacy of the 2026 World Cup

The panelists also delved into potential risk and rewards of host cities being thrust onto the world stage. Panelists emphasized the importance of having a clear vision and framework for achieving a legacy of the World Cup, referencing the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa as sporting events with positive legacies that transformed the reputations of the two cities.

On the other side of the coin is the reputational risk our region is taking on. Beatriz Garcia cautioned that given our rail network’s susceptibility to failure in hot weather, our region needs to be honest about the risk of the media overshadowing World Cup successes with stories of transit failure. She referenced the repercussions of transit issues that occurred during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, such as bus drivers becoming lost and quitting, athletes nearly missing their events, and overloaded trains. In recent months, issues with aging and failing equipment have disrupted Amtrak and New Jersey Transit train service along the Northeast Corridor, resulting in frequent major delays and cancellations. The two agencies’ interconnectedness demonstrates how complications in one service can have an extreme impact on the other and cause a ripple effect of operational challenges. This has raised concerns about the region’s ability to successfully move fans during the World Cup.

Geohistorical branding

AJ discussed the concept of geohistorical branding — establishing unique identities within the region that both visitors and locals can associate with based on the region’s history. For example, Al Khor’s history as a pearl diving and fishing coastal village was integral to its branding as a fan zone for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. For the 2026 World Cup, AJ suggested selecting locations for fan zones that highlight areas within the region that may not be as globally well-known/iconic, such as Sparta in New Jersey and Saratoga in New York. It is also critical that each of these fan zones have the infrastructure, such as transportation, hotels, and security, to support such a large influx of visitors.

Security Lessons From Copa América

The 2024 Copa América final recently took place in Miami, with Argentina earning a victory against Colombia in extra time. While media coverage of the final highlighted the sport and Argentina’s record 16th Copa América title, the event will also be remembered by the chaos that delayed the game by more than an hour. Thousands of fans without tickets forced their way past the gates of Hard Rock Stadium for the Copa América final, preventing ticketed fans from accessing their seats or entering the stadium at all. The stadium’s facilities and barriers were severely damaged, and over a hundred people received medical assistance due to the extreme heat exhaustion. Hard Rock Stadium and CONMEBOL, the governing body of football/soccer in South America, have both blamed each other for the disorganization that occurred during the Copa América final.

Overall, the lack of coordination among CONMEBOL, Hard Rock Stadium officials, and local authorities resulted in security understaffing and inadequate preparation for the influx of large crowds. Critics have pointed out the collective failure to learn from previous international football/soccer matches, where unticketed fans similarly stormed venues.

With the World Cup being a significantly larger international tournament and the final being held at MetLife Stadium in 2026, FIFA and local authorities must learn from the recent Copa América final to establish measures that ensure the safety of attendees.

The panel covered many pressing issues and lessons from cities that have hosted previous large sporting events, but there remain outstanding questions and concerns that still need to be addressed. For instance, Bergen County’s Blue Laws mandate of the closing of local businesses on Sundays conflicts with the 2026 World Cup final taking place on a Sunday, but restaurants and shops in previous host cities have traditionally been open during World Cup matches.

In addition to hosting the world’s biggest sporting event, the tri-state region will be bustling with other major festivities in the summer of 2026, including the U.S. Open Golf Championship in June and the 250th-anniversary celebrations of the United States on Independence Day. Consequently, there will be significant demand for accommodations in the region, but New York City’s recent laws restricting the construction of new hostels and the use of Airbnb, coupled with New Jersey’s limited hotel capacity around MetLife Stadium may present challenges in terms of visitor accommodations.

A major takeaway from the panelists was that while the region cannot resolve all of these issues by 2026, the World Cup should be viewed as an opportunity to start discussions about change, with New Jersey in the global spotlight.