If you’ve been counting down to the 2026 FIFA World Cup 2026, here’s one thing you might not have penciled into your calendar: “stay home.”
Transit officials across New York and New Jersey are encouraging anyone who isn’t heading to a match to skip their commute altogether during June’s tournament, warning that the region’s already-busy transit system is about to hit peak chaos. (The biggest pressure point is MetLife Stadium, which will host some of the tournament’s marquee games, including the final.)
At a press conference last Thursday, the Port Authority’s executive director, Kathryn Garcia, bluntly explained that if you can work remotely, do it. The expectation is that tens of thousands of fans—around 40,000 per match—will flood trains heading to the stadium, with peak travel times overlapping directly with rush hour on key dates like June 22 and June 30.
And if you were thinking about outsmarting the crowds with a quick Uber, think again. Officials are discouraging rideshares, warning they won’t be a reliable workaround once traffic spikes. Instead, they’re pushing public transit as the only viable option, albeit one that’s expected to be packed. Then there’s the price tag. A round-trip ticket on NJ Transit from New York City to MetLife Stadium is projected to cost about $150—roughly 775% higher than the usual fare. So yes, even if you do brave the crowds, it won’t come cheap.
Things could get especially tricky around Penn Station. The NJ Transit section of Penn Station is expected to be restricted to ticketed World Cup attendees for four hours before each match and three hours after, effectively shutting out regular commuters during those windows.
Unless you’re holding a match ticket, June might be the perfect time to embrace remote work—or at least rethink your usual commute. Because while the World Cup is bringing global crowds to the region, it’s also bringing a level of congestion that even seasoned New Yorkers may find ambitious.
