Zohran Mamdani's World Cup Wins

Technically, New York didn’t host the World Cup.

It wasn’t home to any team training centers or matches, all of which were based across the state line and the Hudson River in New Jersey.

But at the same time, New York City felt like the center of the World Cup.

A global city that was both a portal to the New Jersey New York Stadium and a place where the games could be enjoyed even if you didn’t have a match ticket.

Being able to get involved with the World Cup in the city, for free or for relatively low cost, was important to New York’s World Cup role, and much of this was down to the city’s new democratic socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani. 

He, and some other local politicians elsewhere in the country, tried to make what was a fairly inaccessible, exclusive World Cup more inclusive and accessible to soccer fans in these cities.

It allowed New York’s global communities to enjoy the World Cup within their neighbourhoods, or in congregations in various parks or fan fest locations.

Mamdani emerged from the World Cup as a winner because he did all he could in his short time between election and the start of the tournament to make it more accessible for constituents and visitors.

At the Stadium

Tickets

Ticket prices were one of the main areas of controversy ahead of this World Cup, with costs set far beyond what many fans can afford. 

On top of this, there was a free-for-all on the secondary ticket market, including FIFA’s own, where tickets were being resold way above the already extortionate face value.

In September 2025, before becoming mayor, Mamdani launched a campaign called Game Over Greed, which challenged the high cost of tickets, dynamic pricing, and the lack of cheap tickets made available to locals, as had been the case at previous World Cups.

“The biggest sporting event in the world is happening in our backyard, and the vast majority of New Yorkers won’t be able to see it.

“This year, for the first time, FIFA is using dynamic pricing for ticket sales. They can raise prices in real time, depending on how much profit they think they can make off of us. 

“Those tickets can then be resold on an official FIFA platform with NO price cap — yet another method of gatekeeping the game. 

“And to make matters worse, unlike for the past three World Cups, there are no seats set aside for residents.”

In the end, he was able to secure 1,000 tickets for locals priced at $50, which included a free round-trip bus service to the stadium.

Transport

For the thousands of other fans attending, the price of tickets on New Jersey Transit trains was higher than the usual cost of tickets to a soccer match itself, but measures were taken to try to ease some of this cost.

Shuttle bus tickets from New York City to the stadium were recently reduced from the initial $80 round-trip price to $20, in an initiative announced by Governor Kathy Hochul.

The bus travel capacity was also increased by using school buses on matchdays that do not coincide with school days.

The Morning Pitch

Whenever there was a game taking place at the stadium in East Rutherford, Mamdani would release a video entitled “The Morning Pitch” early on the day of the game.

You give us five minutes; we’ll give you the World Cup

This would contain vital information on getting to the game, avoiding traffic, and general helpful advice around the event, but it also included background on the countries involved, their fans, their history, and some of the players involved.

On the final Morning Pitch ahead of the final, Mamdani was joined by legendary former England striker Gary Lineker, who had also interviewed the Mayor for his The Rest is Football podcast.

This series also advised fans on where they could watch the game in the city, bridging the gap between the stadium experience and where to watch closer to home in the city itself.

In the City

The best and most affordable experiences at this World Cup were found away from the matches themselves. Nowhere was this more evident than in New York City, and specifically the aptly named "World’s Borough" of Queens.

Every World Cup match was available to watch at some independent establishment or other, and there was probably a whole neighbourhood somewhere in New York supporting each of the 48 teams at this tournament.

Queens especially witnessed memorable scenes following victories for Mexico, Ecuador, and Egypt among many others there and across the city, with another notable unofficial watch party emerging in Harlem for Senegal games.

Promo

One of the questions ahead of this World Cup was how a country so large would receive it, and whether there would be the feel of a World Cup across the country.

New York City had no such problems given its love for the game, but Mamdani made sure it remained front and center, perhaps sometimes to the annoyance of some who wanted him to focus more on other issues.

The mayor was in tune with what the World Cup already meant to many in the city, and combined this with encouraging others to get involved.

Neighbourhood Passport

There is a lot to see in New York, and one trip for the World Cup won’t be anywhere near enough time to visit the diverse experiences and areas the city has to offer, but in an attempt to broaden horizons, Mamdani introduced a Neighborhood Passport.

It encouraged visitors to explore the city beyond the usual tourist attractions by collecting a Passport from one of the city’s libraries, and then collecting stamps at various locations of interest across the city.

Meal Deals

The diversity of NYC is matched in its food offerings, and one of Mamdani’s ideas saw almost 1,000 restaurants sign up for an initiative that offered patrons a $26 meal deal during the World Cup.

Free Fan Fests

News earlier in the year that the World Cup fan fest at Liberty State Park in Jersey City had been cancelled raised doubts as to the existence of traditional World Cup fan fests in the region, but New York ended up with one in each borough at some point during the tournament.

These were staggered throughout the World Cup, with Queens hosting a “Group Stage HQ” at the Louis Armstrong Stadium, before brief stints at Bronx Terminal Market and Staten Island University Hospital Community Park, and then a finale at the Rockefeller Center in Manhattan.

Gotham FC's Record Crowd

One of the biggest soccer events that took place in the United States during the World Cup outside of the World Cup itself was the game between Gotham FC and Washington Spirit at Citi Field.

It was the first time Gotham had played an NWSL game within New York City itself, and it broke the record attendance for a women’s sports event in New York City with a crowd of 42,175.

Prior to the game, Mamdani, working with Gotham FC themselves, made 4,000 tickets available for the low price of $15.