MetLife Stadium World Cup Transport Guide: No Self-Driving, Public Transit First

Updated: 2026-06-19｜For live transport and match information, please refer to official announcements.

The 2026 World Cup is being held across three countries—the USA, Canada, and Mexico—and MetLife Stadium (officially named “New York New Jersey Stadium” during the tournament, located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA, within the New York metropolitan area) is the core venue inside the USA, hosting a total of eight matches, including group-stage games, knockout games, and the Final on July 19. For Canadian fans planning to head south across the border, the first thing to figure out about this stadium isn’t the schedule, but rather “how to get in and how to get out.”

What people worried about most was the post-match traffic surge, but my observation from following local reporting these past few days is that the actual situation has been smoother than expected. The June 16 France vs. Senegal match (France 3:1 Senegal, with Mbappé scoring twice) was this tournament’s first weekday match at MetLife, and New York City even designated that day a “Gridlock Alert Day,” with nearby schools letting out early. In the end, multiple local outlets (CBS, ABC7) reported that commuting that day was “largely smooth”—aside from a routine minor issue with an Amtrak switch, there was no serious gridlock. In other words, post-match crowds did exist, but the official transport mechanism did its job.

The key lies in a policy many people haven’t noticed: none of MetLife’s eight World Cup matches offers general parking, and tailgating (gatherings and barbecues in the parking lot) is also prohibited. In other words, the route of “driving yourself to the stadium parking lot and then slowly queuing to leave” is basically off the table this time—getting in and out can essentially only rely on the officially designated public transit and shuttles. This is very different from the usual NFL-game habits, and it’s the first thing to keep in mind when planning your trip. The official ways to get in and out are summarized below:

The train is the main option. Officials once cleared about 26,000 people within roughly 70 minutes after a match using rail plus buses, which also shows that as long as you follow the official system, leaving actually has a rhythm to it. One reminder: match-day train tickets are capped at about 40,000 per day and can only be purchased in advance via the NJ TRANSIT App; ticket machines and counters at the station do not sell them on the day, so waiting to buy on-site very likely means coming up empty—something cross-border fans unfamiliar with the area should be especially careful about.

For fans heading across the border from Canada, my practical advice is to set your “buffer time” looser than usual: if after the match you still need to rush to the airport or cross back into Canada the same day, please be sure to leave ample time and factor in border-crossing clearance time as well—for border procedures, please refer to the latest announcements from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (CBP) and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). When leaving, if you’re not pressed for time, lingering a bit to let the first wave of crowds pass before heading to the shuttle point is usually far more comfortable than squeezing through.

Before the match, feel free to check out our complete guide to broadcasts and viewing spots in Canada, or return to the 2026 World Cup venue and itinerary overview to cross-reference information for each city. Finally, it bears repeating: match-day traffic controls, schedules, and ticketing may change at any time, so before setting out, please refer to the NJ TRANSIT official website and the tournament’s official announcements.