Gov. Phil Murphy was standing in the Hudson County municipality affectionately known as “Soccer Town, U.S.A.,” footsteps from a new schoolyard soccer pitch he helped dedicate with a collection of soccer players and soccer executives from European soccer powerhouses, talking about his favorite topic these days.
No, no, we kid — he was talking about soccer, of course. What else? Murphy was still buzzing from the U.S. team’s opening victory in the Women’s World Cup, which happened on the same night that superstar Lionel Messi scored the winning goal in his American debut for MLS team Inter Miami. And, he wanted to know, did you catch the scene at MetLife Stadium a few nights ago?
That was when Manchester United beat Arsenal in a friendly, 2-0, with 82,500 fans filling a building that usually only draws crowds that size for the other football.
“It was a holy cow event,” Murphy told NJ Advance Media last week after an event in Kearny to celebrate the opening of a “mini pitch” at a grammar school. “I mean, this is New Jersey? It just was stunning. Both teams, by the way, played real players and coached hard. There was a fight between the teams! You knew they weren’t just mailing it in.”
That night, English journalists asked him about bringing more Premier League and Champions Leagues games to New Jersey — and not just the ones that don’t count, either. Real games. His comments made headlines in tabloids over in London, where the idea is not exactly popular among fans.
“I can’t imagine the demand,” Murphy said. “Look at American football. The Patriots are playing the Colts, there are 50,000 seats and there was demand for 700,000. I used that as an example. If you had a game that mattered in the season or the Champions League, you wouldn’t be able to get NEAR it. I don’t know what the likelihood is, but ... it’s a no brainer for them.”
That remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that soccer is having another moment here — the kind that tend to come around every so often and change entrenched views about the sport’s place in this country. And Murphy is working to ensure that New Jersey stays at the center of that when the World Cup comes to North America in 2026.
He has practically added “U.S. soccer diplomat” to his LinkedIn page with the goal of bring the World Cup Final to MetLife in three years. FIFA is expected to announce the destination for the massive quadrennial soccer match in early autumn, with New York/New Jersey vying against Los Angeles, Dallas and Houston.
Unless Cowboys owner Jerry Jones delivers a saddlebag filled with euros — hey, it’s FIFA we’re talking about, people — MetLife Stadium has to be considered the favorite. But we’ll let Murphy make his pitch.
“We think New Jersey, with New York City, is unbeatable,” Murphy said. “Biggest media market in the world. Great stadium. We’ll be able to get people traveling back and forth easily. I feel like we’re really well positioned. We’ll see.”
Murphy isn’t worried about NJ Transit’s (ahem) less than stellar performance when the Super Bowl was held in East Rutherford in 2014 because, he said, “we’re a long way from that.” He also isn’t worried that Los Angeles, with the gleaming SoFi Stadium, and Dallas, with massive AT&T Stadium, have better venues.
“(MetLife) stacks up well,” he said. “SoFi is, ‘wow,’ but it’s much smaller, with 69,000 versus our 82,500, and it’s got — I’ve been told — more field vs. stands issues. Dallas is a bigger stadium, at 100,000, but frankly — and this is nothing again Dallas — but I think folks expect the finals of the World Cup to be New York or LA.
“It was LA last time (in 1994 when the U.S. last hosted the World Cup), I think it should be New York and New Jersey this time.”
The key part here is making sure that New Jersey gets more than just Route 3 traffic headaches the night of the game. Sure, it was nice that Super Bowl XLVIII was here, but nearly every single event leading up to the big game was held in Manhattan. Murphy insists that won’t be the case in three years.
“I feel really good about that,” Murphy said. “First of all, (NYC mayor) Eric Adams and his team has been an extraordinary partner. I think the fact that it’s eight or nine games in warm weather, and the economy is getting built up all around MetLife. This is all going in the right direction. I think New Jersey will get at least its fair share of commerce and visitors.”
He is certain about this: The World Cup, even if FIFA awards the final to another city, will eclipse the Super Bowl as the biggest sporting event staged in the state. He has a point, too, given that soccer bonanza will last several weeks during the warmer weather rather than just one when it was too cold to gather outdoors.
If MetLife is packed for a Man U friendly in July, imagine the scene if, say, England is playing Argentina in a World Cup quarterfinal. Yes, we’re having a soccer moment now, but it will pale in comparison to what’s coming.
“It’s an enormous wave right now,” Murphy said, and our self-appointed U.S. soccer diplomat wants to make sure it crashes on our shores. Namely, the Jersey Shore.
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Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com.