A journalist from The Guardian recently walked from New York City to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The journey took four and a half hours. He did it because the train now costs $105. That used to be $13.
For context: $13 to $105 is not a price adjustment. It is a different product aimed at a different customer. Mark McPartland's walk for The Guardian — documented on video, published 12 May — was framed as a stunt, but the punchline landed harder than intended. When the cheaper option is a 4.5-hour trek across state lines, something has gone wrong with the fan experience before a single ball has been kicked.
MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, is set to host some of the biggest matches at World Cup 2026 — including the final. It sits just outside New York City, one of the tournament's marquee host cities, and the assumption has always been that proximity to the world's most famous skyline would be a selling point. The transport pricing structure currently makes that skyline look like a very expensive backdrop.
The people most affected by an eightfold fare increase are not the corporate hospitality crowd. They are the travelling supporters — the ones who booked flights months out, who are already stretching budgets to make a once-in-a-generation tournament work. For international fans arriving in New York and trying to reach the stadium on match day, $105 per person for a train journey is a line item that adds up fast, especially for families or groups.
FIFA and the 2026 host committee have leaned heavily on the narrative of an open, accessible World Cup spread across 16 North American cities. That message gets harder to sell when the most straightforward transport link to the final venue costs more than some match tickets in the lower rounds.
The MetLife situation is the sharpest example so far, but it fits a pattern that supporter groups have flagged across several 2026 host cities — stadium locations that made sense on a map looking less convenient once you factor in real-world transport costs and logistics. The United States has never hosted a World Cup at this scale, and the infrastructure questions were always going to surface eventually. They are surfacing now, with the tournament closing in.
McPartland made it to the stadium. It took him four and a half hours. He did not look like a man who had enjoyed the journey.
A journalist from The Guardian recently walked from New York City to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The journey took four and a half hours. He did it because the train now costs $105. That used to be $13.
Fontes
The Guardian — Football
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