MetLife Stadium sits five miles west of Midtown Manhattan in East Rutherford, New Jersey. On Saturday it opens its doors to the 2026 FIFA World Cup for match six, Brazil against Morocco, inside a building that holds 82,500 people and cost $1.6 billion to construct.
The Vision and Construction
Ground was broken on September 5, 2007, and the stadium opened on April 10, 2010, replacing the old Giants Stadium on the same East Rutherford plot. It was built jointly by the New York Giants and New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL), and was the most expensive stadium built in the United States at the time.
The imposing design choice /Citizen
The architects, 360 Architecture, EwingCole, Rockwell Group, and Bruce Mau Design, were handed an unusual brief. The Giants wanted traditional exposed steel and rusticated stonework. The Jets wanted glass, metal, and a modern finish.
The result drew from Manhattan's skyscraper column-and-tower aesthetic, merging both identities into one structure. Thornton Tomasetti handled structural engineering. Skanska served as general contractor.
World Cup Debut and International Events
The stadium is no stranger to major events. It hosted Super Bowl XLVIII in February 2014 and later served as a venue for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, including the final. For this tournament, it carries FIFA's name: New York New Jersey Stadium.
MetLife Stadium during the PSG Chelsea Club World Cup match /Getty Images
Brazil and Morocco kick things off today, drawing two of football's largest global followings into one building. France face Senegal here on June 16. England close out their group stage against Panama on June 27, with five further matches following before the final.
Engineering and Design
The stadium's base is clad in limestone-like stonework while the upper exterior features aluminum louvers and glass. An internal lighting system switches between blue for Giants games and green for Jets games, a concept borrowed from the Allianz Arena in Munich.
MetLife Stadium /Visit NJ
The louvers run a total linear length of 50 kilometres. The steep bowl keeps spectators close to the action, with front row seats at the 50-yard line sitting just 14 metres from the sideline, the shortest such distance across all NFL stadiums.
Modern Setup for 2026
FIFA mandates natural grass, but both NFL tenants play on FieldTurf synthetic surface. MetLife underwent a two-phase renovation of its lower bowl, replacing permanent seating with a modular system to expand the playing area to FIFA pitch dimensions. Temporary grass was grown off-site, delivered in pallets, and laid in sections.
Four giant Light Emitting Diode (LED) screens measuring 9.1 metres by 36 metres are installed in each corner. A 360-degree ribbon board runs the full length of the seating bowl.
What Makes It Unique
MetLife is one of only two NFL stadiums shared by two teams from the same league, the other being SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. The design had to serve both franchises without favouring either, producing one of the more architecturally deliberate stadiums in American sport.
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