NY and NJ poised to learn if they’ll host 2026 FIFA World Cup

Gooooooal?

Residents of the Big Apple and New Jersey will find out Thursday afternoon if they’ll host the 2026 FIFA World Cup for men’s soccer — an event that both Mayor Adams and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy are pressing hard for.

In 2026, the World Cup will be hosted in North America, which is expected to have 16 host cities, ten in the U.S. and three apiece in Canada and Mexico.

Soccer fans watch France play Belgium in a World Cup semifinal soccer game on a gigantic screen in New York's Times Square, on July 10, 2018, in New York. U.S. cities and states have lined up with tax breaks and millions of dollars in both public and private investments for a chance at hosting 2026 FIFA World Cup games, set to be announced Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Mary Altaffer/)

Adams and Murphy want some of those games to be played at stadiums here — and potentially the final.

“Those who are soccer fans, the governor is the striker. I’m the goalie. We are going to win the game for us,” Adams said on MSNBC Thursday morning. “As they decide which location to host these games, we believe we are in the running. And we’re looking forward to an announcement to determine who the cities are.”

New York City Mayor Eric Adams (Luiz C. Ribeiro/)

The announcement of which cities will host games is expected to come at 5 p.m. Thursday in Jersey City’s Liberty State Park, a sign that the New York metro area will possibly have something to celebrate.

The last time the World Cup came to the U.S. in 1994, seven games were hosted in the Meadowlands at Giants Stadium. If the region is chosen as a host this time around, games will likely occur at the same location.

FILE - Alan I. Rothenberg, chairman, president and CEO of World Cup USA 1994, holds up a card reading "Chicago Soldier Field," at a news conference in New York, March 23, 1992, where the nine sites for soccer's 1994 World Cup were announced. (Osamu Honda/)

There are a total of 22 cities competing to serve as hosts. New York and New Jersey made there application to FIFA together. Other competitors for the much-coveted spots include Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, Philadelphia and San Francisco in the U.S.; as well as Guadalajara and Mexico City in Mexico and Toronto and Vancouver in Canada.

During their appearance on MSNBC Thursday morning, Adams and Murphy were asked how their current struggles to rein in crime might impact the final decision for games to be played in the area.

An aerial view showing MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. (Seth Wenig/)

Adams, who has made fighting crime a key priority and has criticized prosecutors and courts for not doing their part, used the question to frame what’s at stake more broadly.

“It sends the message to all those who are part of the criminal justice system that the actions they take also will impact on the economy of our region,” he said.