Opener against Fluminense FC: 09 Facts about the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey | OneFootball

01 Club World Cup record stadiumNot only will MetLife Stadium host the FIFA Club World Cup final on July 13, but the stadium in East Rutherford will also host more matches at the tournament than any other venue. A total of nine Club World Cup matches will be held in New Jersey this summer (five group games, one quarter-final, both semi-finals and the final), making MetLife Stadium the frontrunner ahead of Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. By comparison, Dortmund, Munich and Berlin hosted the most matches at EURO 2024 in Germany, with six games each.

02 Four possible BVB matches Depending on how things go for BVB at the Club World Cup, the Black & Yellows could make a total of four appearances at the MetLife Stadium. After the group match against Fluminense, another appearance by Dortmund in New Jersey in the quarter-finals would be possible - if BVB finish the preliminary round as group winners and win the subsequent round of 16 match against the runner-up in Group E. Both semi-finals and the final of the FIFA Club World Cup will also take place in East Rutherford.

03 Double final stadium Not only will the final of the FIFA Club World Cup (July 13, 21:00 CEST) be held at the MetLife Stadium – one year later, almost to the day, the final of the 2026 World Cup will also take place in East Rutherford: On July 19, the MetLife Stadium will host the final of the biggest World Cup ever in Canada, Mexico and the USA with a total of 48 participating nations.

04 Blue or green? The MetLife Stadium, which opened around two-and-a-half years after construction began in April 2010, is owned equally by the two American football teams: the New York Giants and New York Jets, both of whom compete in the National Football League (NFL). Depending on which team are playing a home game in the stadium, the exterior façade, which can be illuminated in different colours, shines in blue (for the Giants) or green (for the Jets). The same aluminum façade technology was first used at the Allianz Arena in Munich. Since the Giants and the Jets, who first shared Giants Stadium (1984-2010) and now MetLife Stadium, compete in different conferences, a meeting between the two teams is rare (so far four times in 15 years at MetLife Stadium).

05 Capacity With seating for 82,500 fans, the MetLife Stadium, which has been named after the insurance company MetLife since 2011, is not only the largest stadium in New Jersey, but also the largest in the NFL, with 1,135 more places than Dortmund's SIGNAL IDUNA PARK (81,365). At the Club World Cup, MetLife Stadium is the second-largest venue after the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, Los Angeles (88,500).

06 Part of a whole MetLife Stadium is part of the Meadowlands Sports Complex. In addition to the stadium, the venue also includes the Meadowlands Racetrack, a harness racing track, the Quest Diagnostics Training Center, the Giants' training facility, the American Dream, a large retail and entertainment complex and the Meadowlands Arena, which was once home to the New Jersey Devils and Brooklyn Nets but has since closed.

07 Super Bowl The MetLife Stadium has also hosted the biggest sporting event in the USA: Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014, the NFL final, which the Seattle Seahawks won 43-8 against the Denver Broncos that year. Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers performed at the MetLife Stadium during the half-time show. It was only the second Super Bowl to be played in an open stadium outside of California or Florida since 1977, and the second coldest in history: the temperature at the start of the game was 9 degrees celsius (4 degrees at Super Bowl VI 1972 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans).

08 Sport, concerts, religion The MetLife Stadium is not just a venue for football or soccer matches. The stadium in New Jersey has already hosted 600 major events as well as 3,000 special events - including WrestleMania 29 and 35, the 2021 Army-Navy Game and numerous concerts. Singer Ed Sheeran played in front of over 89,000 fans at MetLife Stadium in 2023, the capacity of which can be increased outside of football games. The attendance record stands at 93,000 people, who gathered in the stadium in 2012 for the Jewish festival Siyum HaShas.

09 Good connections In front of the MetLife Stadium there are parking spaces for around 30,000 cars, which can reach the stadium via the New Jersey Turnpike, one of the busiest highways in the United States. From the largest US city, New York (population 8.8 million), it is also possible to travel by train or bus to tranquil East Rutherford (population 10,000). Directly in front of the stadium is the Meadowlands stop, which connects the MetLife Stadium to Manhattan via the Secaucus stop.