There were players going into the stands to protect their families in Charlotte, North Carolina. And fans without tickets rushing through the entry gates of the stadium in Miami — a mob scene that easily could have turned deadly.
Fortunately for MetLife Stadium, nothing of the sort happened when it hosted three games in the recent Copa America soccer tournament. The goal is to keep it that way.
While the FIFA 2026 World Cup Host Committee for New York/New Jersey and MetLife Stadium officials certainly have been busy working through all of the challenges that the World Cup will bring, crowd control and security quickly rose to the top of the list following those two scary incidents last week at other Copa games.
Gov. Phil Murphy, who said he was stunned when he saw the images while on a trip in Germany, said he was grateful that something like that has never happened at MetLife — but, he quickly ordered a meeting to review the precautions that are in place.
“On Monday morning, I was on with the team, including the MetLife leadership,” he said. “I said, ‘Let’s review all protocols … and let’s make sure it never happens.’”
Murphy said he has full faith and confidence in MetLife Stadium for two reasons:
- CEO Ron VanDeVeen has been at MetLife Stadium (and previously Giants Stadium) his entire career, including when the World Cup came in 1994;
- Taylor Swift.
Murphy, who often references the Taylor Swift shows at MetLife Stadium as evidence the region can handle the mass transit needed, said they also serve as an example of crowd control.
Murphy said there were numerous perimeters that only ticketed fans could go through, creating a much more orderly environment.
Such a scenario may have prevented the chaos in Miami, when thousands of fans who did not have tickets rushed the gates in an effort to get through (which they eventually did).
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Murphy, who referenced the tragedy at a 1979 concert by the Who in Cincinnati (an event all venues now train for), said Miami was lucky to avoid a major disaster before the final last Sunday night.
“They were lucky nobody died,” he said. “It was 100 degrees and they had been out there for hours. You combine dehydration with people pressing against each other and it’s a recipe for an awful mess.”
The incident during a semifinal match in Charlotte last Thursday was just as troubling, as players from Uruguay went into the stands when they saw their families in danger.
“It’s unfathomable that you would have players going into the stands to rescue their families,” he said.
Having numerous perimeters to prevent fans without tickets from getting close is one way Murphy said MetLife will act to keep the peace. A heavy police presence is another.
Murphy said police presence already is high for an NFL game, and he expects it will be exponentially greater during the World Cup, saying officers from New York City and the federal government likely will join New Jersey officers.
“We will have an enormous security presence,” he said.
