The minute our sports producer sent the message that MetLife Stadium was chosen to host the World Cup 2026 Final Game, I jumped on the FIFA website to get tickets. They are not quite ready yet, but the experience brought me back 30 years -- to 1994 -- when the USA hosted our first World Cup.
That photo above, that's me in Chicago, watching Greece play Bulgaria. I don't remember exactly how I got the tickets in those pre-internet days, but there were 63,000 people there. That itself was amazing, because soccer in the U.S. was in the middle of a pretty challenging time. My beloved NY Cosmos and The NASL (North Atlantic Soccer League) had folded and it would be several years before a new league, the MLS would start up. It didn't matter. Soccer fans from the U.S. and around the world jammed all the stadiums for the World Cup, because the World Cup is that special.
A few weeks later, I was at Giants Stadium.
Again, it was Bulgaria, this time against Germany, one of the giants of world soccer. Look at this crowd!
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
Bulgaria won that game too! But let me tell you why the World Cup is special to me. My first memory of it is reading about the World Cup 1974 in Sports Illustrated. I loved the rock-n-roll Netherlands team, led by Johann Cruyff, with their orange jerseys and long hair and all-in style of play. I wanted to hang out with them, even though they lost to West Germany in the final.
Local
After that I was hooked. I followed every tournament start to finish. What I love about the World Cup is that, it's the World...Cup. In the 2022 final, the team from South America (Argentina) beat the team from Europe (France) in a stadium in the Middle East, and I watched it along with a big crowd on a screen outside MetLife stadium in New Jersey, waiting for the Jets game to start.
I want to leave you with some of my favorite memories of World Cups past.
1982: Filling up on Cross Bay Boulevard, right after Italy beat West Germany and suddenly the streets were filled with cars honking horns and flying Italian flags .
2006: Italy versus France. I was so nervous, I turned the game off mid-match, then snuck it back on in time to see Italy win!
2014: On my way home from reporting in Afghanistan, the U.S. was playing Belgium, one of the tournament favorites. Somehow there was a live feed on the leg from Ankara, Turkey to JFK. The U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard made 16 saves, so many, the commentators called him " The Secretary of Defense." The whole plane was cheering even though we lost 2—1.
That's why I can't wait for World Cup 2026 and the final at Met Life Stadium. I hope to see you there!
