With FIFA coming to New Jersey in 2026, MetLife Stadium will be the center of the soccer world as it plays host to the World Cup final. Before then, some work has to be done to the stadium to make sure it meets FIFA’s rigorous requirements.
The East Rutherford stadium, which is home to the New York Jets and the New York Giants, will be altered to include a wider playing field for soccer, different branding and a new entry process when tournament play starts in about 800 days, said Stephen Sansonese, the senior director of facility operations and events at MetLife Stadium.
The current field — configured for football — is not wide enough to meet FIFA’s requirements for hosting the final match, so work to widen it will be done in phases. This year the east side of the field is being expanded, and the west side will be broadened in spring 2025.
Anywhere from four to 10 rows are being removed and then built back in a way that they can be taken out for the final, Sansonese said.
The first phase of the work is expected to be done by the second week of May.
Skanska Construction was hired to complete the work. The company has firsthand knowledge of the stadium, having built MetLife more than a decade ago. One of the largest construction companies in the world, Skanska is also working on the Portal Bridge project for NJ Transit.
Bigger than soccer:5 reasons to be excited about World Cup 2026 coming to MetLife Stadium
It’s not just inside the stadium that will see changes, though. The approach will be different as well. Security will likely be set up a good distance from the stadium’s various entrances, Sansonese said.
He expects the gates for security screenings to be near the stadium’s outer loop, beyond the initial ring of parking lots, and then that entire space across those lots will be part of the stadium experience.
Those particulars are still to be coordinated with New Jersey State Police and local law enforcement, Sansonese said,
Another FIFA requirement is a neutral stadium policy, meaning the name of the stadium will reflect the host location designation instead of the stadium name itself.
So Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, will be Boston Stadium even though it’s nearly 30 miles outside the city, and MetLife will become New York/New Jersey Stadium for the duration of the tournament — even though the stadium is in New Jersey.
Sansonese said there are more than 1,000 named elements that will have to be covered.
Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@northjersey.com
