Jersey City and Newark have been announced as the fourth and fifth cities to host fan festivals for the FIFA World Cup 2026, joining the Goya Presents Flag Cities 2026 initiative.
By Dan Israel/Hudson County View
The World Cup Final will be held at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, where the New York Giants and Jets play their home games.
New Jersey’s two largest cities join Secaucus, East Rutherford, Rutherford, and Bergen County as Flag Cities hosts. Flag Cities aim to “deliver dynamic and professionally produced fan festivals in their respective cities,” officials said at a virtual press conference today.
“For many, many months and probably a couple of years now, we have been talking about how will we leverage and maximize the fact that … the greatest sporting event on the planet is coming to our backyard for eight games,” exclaimed. Meadowlands Chamber President and CEO Jim Kirkos.
Kirkos said this initiative aimed to learn from the mistakes of when Super Bowl XLVIII was held at MetLife in 2014, recalling that neighboring municipalities didn’t activate their communities to ensure small businesses and residents alike took part in the festivities.
The event series will kick off in Jersey City on Friday, June 12th on Columbus Drive, followed by the fan festival in Leonia’s Overpeck Park on Sunday, June 14th.
“We’re so appreciative of everything that Goya does. For us, this is an extraordinary opportunity to join in,” began Jersey City Mayor James Solomon, he celebrated being named a host city after Liberty State Park was pulled as a main fan fest location.
“A lot of people in Jersey City were actually feeling left out by that plan, that people were going to basically be ferried in from New York, they were going to be bussed in from transit stops. There’s a lot of congestion, but the actual celebration wasn’t going to be connected to the neighborhoods of Jersey City.”
He also expressed excitement about Jersey City being able to kick off the series of events.
“What was so exciting about Flag Cities for us, is we can actually put on, I think, the first event, June 12, a celebration right in the heart of downtown Jersey City, right on our streets, bring in the LED boards, bring in the small businesses, and create the extraordinary excitement of the World Cup in the heart of Jersey City.”
The new mayor also vowed to have more World Cup-driven events beyond what is hosted in Columbus Drive, also joking despite what New York may say, New Jersey is the clear host of the final and was excited to showcase the state, it’s values, and hospitality.
The other flag city events will be Secaucus, on Sunday, June 21st, in Laurel Hill Park, with Mulberry Plaza in Newark afterwards on Wednesday, June 24th. The fan festivals culminate in East Rutherford and Rutherford downtown on Friday, June 26.
Each Flag Cities event will feature: a live broadcast of World Cup games on large-scale LED screens; food trucks, international cuisine, and beverage vendors; a beer garden and VIP lounge; live headline entertainment, DJs, and community performances; kids’ zones with family-friendly activities; shopping vendors, soccer gear, and local crafts; soccer-themed games and immersive fan experiences; embassy and cultural activations; and flag installations, town-wide decorations, and pep rallies.
Hudson County Executive Craig Guy was also excited for the World Cup to come to Hudson County’s backyard. He echoed Solomon regarding the diversity of both Jersey City and the county being congruent with the international nature of the games.
“The biggest event in the world is coming into our backyard and how cool is that, right, to host an event that every nationality in the world is interested in. Hudson County … speaks the most languages in the whole world … So that speaks volumes as to where we’re going to be and the excitement that’s going to reach out to every nationality in our county.”
According to Guy, the event in Secaucus was originally set to be held in downtown, but was moved to Laurel Hill Park due to capacity issues. He thanked Mayor Michael Gonnelli for working to find a compromise with involved stakeholders.
“We did move out of the internal part of Secaucus, it just logistically wasn’t going to work. We think we can have more of a celebration in Laurel Hill Park, which we’re always proud of … Hudson County has the best parks,” he explained.
Guy said this was a testament to the true partnership between Hudson, Bergen, and Essex counties, as well as the region of Northern New Jersey. He also shouted out Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) for pivoting on this early in her term.
“The reason why we’re here today is that now we each have … ownership of this World Cup now: We can actually feel the excitement starting to build within Hudson.”
