ARLINGTON, Texas — The burning question surrounding the 2026 World Cup seems closer to being answered: Which stadium will host the final match?
There have been multiple instances of ESPN reports in the past year citing AT&T Stadium as FIFA's choice to host the coveted match, but recent comments from a high-ranking official suggest the decision has been narrowed down to two: AT&T Stadium in Arlington and MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said the Garden State is vying with Texas to be home to the final, according to northjersey.com.
The FIFA delegation was in New Jersey over the weekend doing a site evaluation of MetLife Stadium. Murphy tweeted about the visit on Sunday.
“They're going around but they've been pretty clear publicly that it's Dallas or here in our bid with New York City,” Murphy told northjersey.com. “It's not just the final. That means every stadium gets their package of games. So you don't know the teams yet, but you know the dates and you know what you're going to sell generally.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino went to the Jets-Patriots game on Sunday before doing a tour of MetLife Stadium on Wednesday, northjersey.com reported. The visit to MetLife Stadium came one week after Infantino and other FIFA executives attended the Cowboys-Jets game on Sept. 17.
Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones also addressed Infantino's visit during his weekly radio interview on 105.3 The Fan. Jones said hosting Infantino was "mind-boggling." Jones said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was present to lend a hand in pitching AT&T Stadium to FIFA.
"It's a privilege to get to sit there and think 'my goodness, we get to talk about possibly having the single greatest game that you can have in a sport that billions and billions of people follow around the world'," Jones said.
FC Dallas owner Dan Hunt, who chairs the Dallas bid committee, told the Dallas Morning News in March that FIFA is expected to announce the site of the final and how many matches will be played at AT&T Stadium in the fourth quarter of 2023.
We are on the precipice of that timetable, so an official announcement could be coming soon. And according to Murphy, DFW is in a close two-horse race to the final.
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