It was a three-day whirlwind tour of Germany for Gov. Phil Murphy and first lady Tammy Murphy, but you won’t hear the governor complain one bit, as it combined three of his favorite things: selling New Jersey, being in Germany — and watching world-class soccer.
Murphy, who flew to Germany on Saturday and returned to New Jersey on Tuesday, said his quick visit to meet business and government leaders — as well as see the Euro 2024 final — was all he could have hoped for.
“It was a good opportunity to observe, live and learn,” he said.
The Murphys met with the top leaders in the German government — President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Scholtz’s chief of staff, Wolfgang Schmidt.
Murphy has had a relationship with the three for more than a decade, dating back to his time as U.S. ambassador to Germany, so conversations were able to be a little more straightforward. There was talk of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump (which occurred the day before) and talk of increasing what already is a robust trade pipeline between Germany and New Jersey.
Those types of discussions continued with business leaders (the Murphys spent time with leaders from BASF, Bayer and others) and business groups (think of a meeting with a countrywide chamber of commerce).
“There’s already a significant amount of German investment in New Jersey, and we were there pitching for more,” he said.
Talent, location, innovation, academic excellence — all of the governor’s buzzwords were used.
“Those meetings went very well,” he said. “There will be lots of follow-up.”
Where that follow-up occurs is the next question.
The World Cup — specifically hosting the 2026 World Cup final — was a topic of conversation at every turn, Murphy said.
Whether it was with Aleksander Ceferin, the UEFA president, or Bjørn Gulden, the CEO of adidas (a global FIFA sponsor), Murphy was pitching.
“We were promoting New Jersey, not just via the World Cup, but as a place to do business for German companies,” he said.
Of course, the Euro 2024 final was a big moment, too.
Murphy, a huge soccer fan, rattled off scores from the bracket without hesitation before detailing how Spain topped England in the final.
But it was about more than just fun and games. Plenty of what the Murphys saw could translate to the 2026 World Cup.
There was a charity event Saturday night, which went to support the growth of the game in underserved communities (a goal of the 2026 World Cup), there were fanfests (the Murphys met with a top leader of those endeavors) and there was an overall take on security and logistics (representatives from the New Jersey State Police were there observing).
“They largely had a great tournament,” Murphy said. “They had some mass transit issues at a couple of venues. But, for the most part, people raved about it. Thankfully, it was safe, and the football was good.”
