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World Cup 2026: MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to host World Cup final on 19 July

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MetLife Stadium in New Jersey will host the 2026 World Cup final on 19 July, while Azteca Stadium in Mexico City will stage the opening group game on 11 June.

MetLife Stadium in New Jersey

Mexico is one of three countries co-hosting the expanded 48-team tournament along with USA and Canada which will last a record 39 days.

They have hosted two World Cups in 1970 and 1986, while the US hosted in 1994.

Canada are first-time hosts and their opening game is in Toronto on 12 June.

The United States will play their opening match at So-Fi Stadium in Los Angeles also on 12 June

The Azteca was the venue for Argentina striker Diego Maradona’s famous ‘Hand of God’ goal in the 2-1 win against England in the 1986 quarter-finals and has a capacity of 83,000.

MetLife Stadium, home to American football teams the New York Giants and New York Jets, is based in New Jersey’s East Rutherford and can hold 82,500 fans. It was one of the host stadiums for the 1994 World Cup.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino, alongside comedian and actor Kevin Hart, rapper Drake and celebrity Kim Kardashian, announced the plans on Sunday and also revealed the third-place play-off match will take place in Miami.

The quarter-finals onwards will be held in US cities, with Los Angeles, Kansas City, Miami and Boston hosting last-eight matches, while the semi-finals will be in Dallas and Atlanta. Dallas will host a record nine matches.

The draw for the World Cup is expected to take place towards the end of 2025.

The tournament will last 10 more days than the 2022 edition in Qatar.

In total, 16 cities have been chosen including Monterrey and Guadalajara in Mexico, and Vancouver in Canada.

Philadelphia, Houston, Seattle and San Francisco are the other US host cities.

Only one city, Guadalajara, will not host a knockout game.

Teams are likely to face a large amount of travel between games.

The shortest distance between a quarter-final and a semi-final venue is just over 500 miles from Kansas City to Dallas while the longest – between Los Angeles and Atlanta – is just under 2,200 miles.

Infantino said “players and fans have been at the core of our extensive planning for this game-changing tournament” and it will be a tournament that will “not only set new records but also leave an indelible legacy”.

Fifa said the schedule was drawn up in consultation with stakeholders including national team coaches and technical directors.

The governing body says teams will have three days of rest for 103 of the tournament’s record 104 matches.

“The tournament’s innovative match schedule will serve to minimise travel for teams and fans alike, while the number of rest days between fixtures will be maximised,” the governing body said.

The new format will feature 12 four-team groups and a last-32 knockout round for the first time.

The tournament hosts will play the group stage in their own countries, with the US staying on the West Coast with two games in LA and one in Seattle.

Canada will play one group stage game in Toronto followed by two in Vancouver while Mexico will play twice at the Azteca and once in Guadalajara.

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Nigerian coach sells Osimhen’s boots

The Super Eagles striker last wore the boots when he scored a hat-trick for Nigeria in the last 2026 World Cup qualifying series against the Benin Republic.

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Assistant coach of Solution FC – an Anambra-based Nigeria National League side – Olisa Ezeasor has sold the pair of boots gifted to him by Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen.

He put the boots up for sale at N1m, barely two months after he was gifted them by Osimhen.

The Super Eagles striker last wore the boots when he scored a hat-trick for Nigeria in the last 2026 World Cup qualifying series against the Benin Republic.

The PUNCH reported that Eseasor sold the boots to a football administrator, Fola Olatunji-David, for an undisclosed fee.

According to him, he needed the money for business.

“Officially putting this boot up for sale. Price: One million naira only. Size: 44/45. Money needed to support my personal business,” Eseasor posted on Saturday.

On Sunday, he returned with an update on the sale and also announced a giveaway of N250,000 from the proceeds.

“Update: Boot bold. Purchased by Fola Olatunji-David.

Price: undisclosed.“In order to give back to my mutual community, who have been active under my posts since my small fame in this space, I’ll be doing a giveaway worth N250,000. N10,000 for 25 persons. Follow my account, on my post notification, and comment done with a screenshot of my post notification on. I’ll select winners from the comments. Entries start now.”

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Mikel Obi ready to reset Nigerian football governance

“If you want us going forward, you must make sure things are done properly. Get the right people, people that have the same direction and thought, so when the players come back home to play, there is a good environment for them to play and perform.”

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Image credit : arise.tv

Former Super Eagles captain John Obi Mikel has announced his interest in taking a leadership role within the Nigeria Football Federation, stressing that he would only step into such a position if it operates without corruption

.Mikel’s comments follow Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, a setback he believes highlights deeper structural problems within Nigerian football.

The 37 year old said the issues extend beyond the pitch and require a complete reset driven by integrity and accountability.

Mikel, who has long been vocal about his commitment to national service, said he has always prioritised Nigeria throughout his football career.

“One thing I have always done since my early days is fought for the country. I don’t know how many players have done that like I have, through the U17, U20, the senior national team.”

“Years of sacrifice. I have never for once said no to my country.”

He added that he remains ready to contribute, but only under the right conditions.

“When I know I can give my opinion and help, I will always be ready. But again, I won’t have corruption tied to me. I am never going to do that if I am going to say yes.

“If you want us going forward, you must make sure things are done properly. Get the right people, people that have the same direction and thought, so when the players come back home to play, there is a good environment for them to play and perform.”

Beyond his playing career, Mikel has gained administrative experience. In July 2023, he was appointed Honorary Adviser on Sports in Plateau State by Governor Caleb Mutfwang, where he has contributed to sports development and strategic planning.

His leadership role, combined with his global football profile, has led many observers to view him as a potential reformist figure who could help reset Nigerian football governance.

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Former Falcons coach Waldrum questions NFF on FIFA’s $960,000 “Where’s that money?

Waldrum said that corruption is never questioned in Nigeria, unlike in the US, where people will seek to know how public funds are spent.

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Randy Waldrum, former head coach of the Super Falcons, has questioned the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) over $960,000 it allegedly got from FIFA in preparation for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

In a viral video on X, Waldrum said that a FIFA insider informed him that every nation that participated in the competition was given money to prepare their squad.

The NFF is claimed to have received roughly N1.4 billion in Naira in October 2022 to support the team.

The former coach lamented that despite receiving the huge sum of money, the NFF could not even put the team in camp before the World Cup and could not afford business-class tickets for the team.

Waldrum said that corruption is never questioned in Nigeria, unlike in the US, where people will seek to know how public funds are spent.

The coach also said that the NFF could only allow him to work with just seven staff, despite that it was FIFA that paid for the bonuses of the technical staff, adding that he was at the tournament without an analyst and not even a scout.

“I have a real close contact here in the US that is very connected with some of the board at FIFA.

“This person told me that in October, every country was given $960,000 from FIFA to prepare for the World cup, where is that money,” Waldrum said.

” If Nigeria got that money why didn’t we have a camp in November? We went to Japan, we flew in and played the game and went home.

“We wasted the last five days of that window to train.“So, all these questions I have is where is this money?

And the other thing I found out through my FIFA connections is that if countries don’t have the money to buy business class tickets for everybody, FIFA will fund the money and buy those tickets and just deduct it from the monies you get from FIFA after the World Cup.

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