Members of the Queensboro FC front office and team supporters joined more than a thousand soccer enthusiasts at Liberty State Park in Jersey City for a watch party and were overjoyed to learn New York and New Jersey were selected to host FIFA World Cup matches at MetLife Stadium in 2026.
The borough’s first professional men’s soccer team, which will be opening its new 7,500-seat soccer stadium at York College in Jamaica in time for the start of the 2023 United Soccer League Championship season and World Cup matches in the metropolitan region, will fuel interest in the club during its formative years.
“We are beyond elated that the biggest stage in global soccer will be coming to our backyard,” a Queensboro FC spokesperson said. “With Queens being the single most diverse place on the planet, there is naturally a love of the beautiful game that exceeds most other places around the world. We cannot wait to celebrate this momentous occasion with our fellow residents and QBFC supporters. Congratulations to all those involved in making this dream a reality. 2026 cannot come soon enough!”
Seven World Cup matches were played at the old Giants Stadium when the United States hosted the most popular tournament on the planet in 1994. Queens sports fans were electrified by Ireland’s opening round victory over eventual champion Italy during the same week that the New York Rangers won the Stanley Cup and the New York Knicks were in the NBA Finals against the Houston Rockets. During the same week, O.J. Simpson tried to elude police in his white Bronco, and still, the World Cup matches in the Meadowlands were able to grab the attention of fans in every corner of the borough.
“There’s no better place to host the World Cup than the most diverse place in the world: New York City,” Councilman Francisco Moya said. “While the matches will be played across the river in New Jersey, right here in New York City we are developing world-class soccer facilities that can be host to open practice sessions, fan zones and all sorts of activation. The World Cup helped football explode in the U.S. in 1994, and I believe that the excitement will only be boosted by the construction of Queensboro FC stadium right here in Queens and the continuing success of the MLS Champions New York City FC.”
Queensboro FC is currently searching for a new head coach and sporting director after Josep Gombau stepped down to return to Odisha FC which competes in the Indian Super League. Queensboro FC will have a new manager in place in time for its inaugural 2023 season with a new stadium and growing exuberance with the return of World Cup matches in the region for the first time in more than three decades.
“The beautiful game is finally coming back to the greatest city on Earth, and no one loves the world’s most popular sport than the ‘World’s Borough,’” Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said. “The energy across Queens leading up to and during the World Cup is going to be off the charts, and I know all our soccer clubs across the borough, small and large, will benefit immeasurably from the long-awaited return of the greatest spectacle in sports to the new York City area.”
