Teams, tales and tips – a football fan's guide to New York City
On July 19, New York joins other great global cities – London, Paris, Rio, Rome – to host a World Cup final. Or rather, New Jersey, as MetLife Stadium stands seven miles from Midtown Manhattan in East Rutherford. Opened in 2010, it replaced Giants Stadium. Home of New York Giants and New York Jets, with five Super Bowls between them, this classic arena of 1976 vintage was unveiled just in time to welcome the following year Pelé’s Cosmos.
These two names typified the first crazy wave of the game in the Big Apple, before the rise of MLS. It was here that Pelé played his farewell game in the pouring rain, exhorting the packed crowd to believe in ‘Love, Love, Love!’, and here that that New York’s two great communities, the Irish and the Italians, filled the stadium the last time the US hosted the World Cup in 1994. Ray Houghton’s early goal lives long in the collective memory.
Then came founder members of MLS New York/New Jersey MetroStars in 1996. Fielding Roberto Donadoni, who had played in the World Cup semi-final here two years earlier, and USMNT teammates from the same tournament, Tab Ramos and Tony Meola, MetroStars failed to live up to expectations, though improved under New Jersey native Bob Bradley.
Taken over by Red Bull in 2006, the team moved further out to Harrison and the similarly branded Red Bull Arena in 2010. Renamed Sports Illustrated Stadium in 2024, it welcomed two-time NWSL Champions Gotham FC in 2020, the professional women’s team recently signing England regular Jess Carter from Chelsea.
Even nomadic New York City FC have played a few times there, a break from their regular home at baseball mecca Yankee Stadium, while their own Etihad Park is being built in Queens. Created by City Football Group – incorporating Manchester City and Melbourne City, among others – the club has brought the likes of Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo to the Bronx, winning one MLS Cup and setting up the Hudson River Derby with Red Bulls.
Set on a former amusement park on Coney Island, Maimonides Park is the home of Brooklyn FC, both the women’s team in the top-tier USLS and the men’s, new members of the USL Championship. Still surrounded by fairground rides and the beach, namechecked by the Ramones and Lou Reed, Coney Island provides a classic day out.
While the same probably can’t be said of Hinchcliffe Stadium in Paterson, New Jersey, this is where the twice-revived New York Cosmos are now based, playing their first third-tier USL League One game there in March 2026.
But if one name deserves equal billing, if not reviving, it’s Brookhattan. Formed in 1933, based in the Bronx, Brookhattan were named after a local trucking company, although the details are sketchy. Leading the inaugural American Soccer League (ASL) that spring, until the league collapsed, this legendary team then joined the second iteration of the ASL that ran for half a century until 1983.
Winning the league in 1944-45, Brookhattan then signed a young striker from Haiti in 1947. Studying accountancy at Columbia University, Joe Gaetjens became known for his gravity-defying headers and ability to get the ball in the net by whatever legal means possible – just as he had as a title-winning teenager for Étoile Haïtienne back in Port-au-Prince.
Earning $25 a game over three seasons for Brookhattan while working in the owner’s restaurant, this son of Germanic parents caught the eye of the selection committee of the US national team when he topped the ASL scoring charts in the spring of 1950.
And so it was that a few weeks later, on June 29 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 37 minutes into a match between USA and runaway favourites England, Gaetjens dived headlong in the penalty box to deflect a tentative shot from teammate Walter Bahr. It proved to be the only goal of the game and probably the most consequential in World Cup history.
Returning to Haiti shortly afterwards, the forward played for his national side in the next cycle of World Cup qualification, ending his career where it started at Étoile Haïtienne. In 1964, this former New York dishwasher was arrested by Haiti’s brutal secret police, to suffer a fate worse than death at Fort Dimanche.
His body was never recovered. Back in the States, Brookhattan quietly folded in 1962, soccer having been discouraged as an alien sport during the baseball-crazed McCarthy era of the 1950s.
With its revival in the 1970s, the newly formed Cosmos played a benefit game in 1972 against a local Haitian XI at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Gaetjens was posthumously inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1976. As for Brookhattan, their story remains one of any number of urban myths surrounding the history of soccer in New York.
For the last two weeks of the tournament from July 6, the Fan Village at Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan will feature a soccer pitch surrounded by huge screens beaming the action.
Getting here
Arriving in town and city transport
New York is served by three main airports: JFK 16 miles (26km) southeast of Midtown Manhattan, LaGuardia 8.5 miles (14km) east in Queens and, nearest MetLife Stadium 13 miles away (21km), Newark, 16.5 miles (26.5km) south-west of Manhattan. Within Newark Airport, an AirTrain (every 3-5mins, free with a rail ticket) links to Airport Station, then NJ Transit trains and Amtrak rail to Newark Penn Station (5mins) and New York Penn Station (30mins), both one stop from Secaucus Junction.
From there on game days, a shuttle train runs to Meadowlands Station (10mins) beside the stadium. A roundtrip ticket from New York to Meadowlands should cost $12.90 but has controversially been raised to $98 on game days, plus Penn Station will partially close for four hours before each match.
Dedicated bus lanes will be open from New York City’s Port Authority and Grand Central Terminal ($20 roundtrip, 15-20mins). There will be no parking or pedestrian access in the stadium area on game days.
For travel around New York, tap in to pay the standard $3 fare on the subway and most buses, capped at $35 for use over a week. Alternatively, invest in an OMNY Card ($5, $1 minimum load) available from machines at subway stations and convenience stores – these provide free transfers over the course of one journey and free rides if you travel more than a dozen times over a seven-day period.
You can also download the MTA app for tickets and schedules.
Unlike rideshare services, a classic yellow New York taxi cab (+1 866-917-8294) does not use surge pricing so usually works out cheaper for short hops around Manhattan. A ride from JFK to Manhattan should cost $70 plus tolls and a congestion surcharge. Hailing one down in the street is best or use apps such as Curb or ARRO.
Where to Drink
The best pubs and bars for football fans
The cosmopolitan soccer culture of New York is best explored in its pubs and sports bars, starting with the huge Football Factory at Legends, in the shadow of the Empire State Building on W 33rd St. Opening early at weekends to screen the Premier League, it welcomes more than 30 supporters’ groups – a Leicester fan need never watch the Foxes alone in the Big Apple – serves food and pours a decent pint of Guinness, overseen by legendary Irish owner Jack Keane.
Up to 5,000 fans pass through its doors of a busy Saturday to watch live action from Bavaria to Buenos Aires, including in the large space outside. For the World Cup, the buzz at this three-floor soccer mecca should be off the charts.
Will Jack retire after the last of the tickertape is being cleared from 33rd St on July 20? In place since the eve of the 1994 World Cup, located here for at least 15 years and after six weeks of carousing, he certainly deserves to. Then again, as a United fan, he probably enjoys the occasional visit by Sir Alex.
Eight blocks away on W 25th St, Smithfield Hall offers a full schedule of European soccer, including weekend Premier League games over breakfast, or one of numerous draught options by the pint or pitcher, including Coney Island Mermaid Pilsner from Brooklyn. For the World Cup, a special menu includes all-day Irish breakfasts, bratwurst and Jameson wings. Bar seats available are on a first come basis, email hello@smithfieldnyc.com for reservations.
The other side of Madison Square Garden on the East Side, Turnmill opens that little bar later, with happy hours (Mon-Fri 4pm-7pm) to boot. Proud home of NYC Evertonians, the pub plans on offering drink specials for every game of the World Cup. Steady on the Moscow Mules during happy hour.
Further down on E 14th St, O’Hanlon’s is still recovering from the Arsenal title celebrations, Premier League action shown on 11 screens and pouring beer from 12 taps. Pub quizzes, pool and darts make this a real home from home.
Close by on 1st Avenue, The Grafton feels a bit classier, reflected in the superior bar snacks, brunch and plates, let alone cocktails, but you can still pull up to the bar (all tables might be booked for major games) and order a pint of house lager or Magners cider.
On Avenue A, this branch of Kelly’s goes big on hockey and basketball, much like its sister on 2nd Ave in the Upper East Side – both open at noon, daily, so no breakfast-time Premier League action – but promises non-stop World Cup action throughout in the tournament in a lively sports bar atmosphere.
Over on the Bowery, Irish-run Sláinte has long welcomed followers of the beautiful game, a projector and 14 TVs beaming Premier League and European games amid the bare brick and tricolours. Of the two dozen beer taps, you’ll find Guinness, Smithwick’s, Harp and various US craft IPAs. No reservations for the World Cup – stake your place and get stuck in. Closes at 3am Thur-Sat.
On John Street, ‘Your Liverpool Home’ near the Financial District, Carragher’s packs out for LFC games, when a $40 minimum spend is required per person, no away colours. This apart, it’s a convivial Irish American pub, where happy hour starts at 10am (!) and this summer you can bag a weekday lunch (10am-3pm) of an entrée and beer/wine for $20. Anfield iconography features throughout, with pub merchandise also for sale.
Close to Broadway and the Gershwin Theatre, McHale’s Soccer Republic opens 9am at weekends, 10.30am weekdays, to serve affordable pints of Heineken and Coney Island IPA among other options, plus house shepherd’s pie, Irish style curry and Donegal fish & chips. Its 100-inch projector screen is being pressed into service this summer.
Finally, for that real New York experience and late drinking, the wonderful Parkside Lounge (317 E Houston St, at Attorney St) is a classic dive bar with pool and foosball, a selection of board games, and a back room that stages comedy. TVs are religiously tuned into New Orleans Saints games – but should screen the World Cup if you ask nicely. Established in 1908, still rocking in 2026. And still with the right ethos
