When Tony Meola looks back on the 1994 World Cup in the United States, he thinks about playing goaltender on the sport’s biggest stage, of course, just a few miles from where he grew up in Kearny — a.k.a. Soccer Town, USA. But he also remembers the way this country embraced the month-long celebration of the world’s biggest sporting event.
“One image I have is this guy in Nebraska who sat on his roof the entire World Cup,” Meola said this week. “He was waiting for us to get knocked out of the tournament. I almost felt bad for the guy. This is a guy in Nebraska doing this! How cool is that?"
That was a more innocent time as Americans discovered the world’s love affair with this sport, and any controversies about the host nation centered on whether a land of such soccer novices deserved to stage this cherished event in stadiums built for the other football. Feels almost quaint now, doesn’t it?
The World Cup will return to North America one year from now, and if the past few weeks are any indication, the storylines are not going to be quite as cuddly.
Donald Trump has sent active-duty troops to Los Angeles as California governor Gavin Newsom declared the military incursion as an “unmistakable step toward authoritarianism.” ICE patrols are snatching up people off the streets and sending them to El Salvadoran torture prisons, while here in New Jersey, a congresswoman is under indictment after a scuffle outside an ICE facility. Trump’s immigration policies and travel bans are designed with one thing in mind, and it certainly isn’t to make the “Land of the Free” feel more welcoming to world visitors.
This weekend, MetLife Stadium will host the club World Cup, a 32-team FIFA tournament seen as a tune-up for the next year’s massive event. In the days leading up to the games, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol promised to be “suited and booted” in a social media post that many interpreted as a clear threat to potential visitors. Even J.D. Vance, our quipster vice president, has joked about detaining fans who overstayed their welcome next summer.
Can it really be a worldwide party if the hosts are greeting the guests with zip ties?
“This is going to be done in a first-class, welcoming way,” Gov. Phil Murphy said this week at an event at Liberty State Park, but the man who campaigned to bring the World Cup Final to New Jersey next summer won’t be running the state when the game is played. Republican Jack Ciattarelli, who has embraced all-things MAGA in his second quest for the governorship, might be the boss in Trenton.
We are still one year from soccer fans descending upon our region, but already, the predictions are dire. Politicians, like Miami mayor Daniella Levine Cava, are already sounding alarms about a “chilling effect” that ICE raids will have on the event. Meg Kane, a Philadelphia host city executive, said this week, “There are certainly things that are happening at the national level, the international level, there are going to be geopolitical issues that we don’t even know right now that are going to affect the tournament.”
Eddie Glaude Jr., a Princeton professor, was reading a story about the World Cup on a flight to California this week and reached the same conclusion that many anxious soccer fans might: “Why would anyone want to come to this country and risk being snatched up by ICE?” It is a fair question.
Look, this is hardly the first time that the World Cup has arrived with controversies in a host nation. In 2014, Brazilian police conducted raids in Rio de Janeiro’s infamous favelas. In 2018, the event was staged in Russia — enough said — and, four years ago, human rights groups decried its first appearance in the Middle East after FIFA’s rampant corruption connected to that bid was exposed.
But as slogans go, “Come to the 2026 World Cup — at least we’re better than Qatar!" isn’t exactly something you want to slap on billboards. Major events like the World Cup and the Olympics are an opportunity for the host country to showcase itself to the world. Why else spend the billions of dollars required to stage them?
The rest of the world will turn its eyes toward us exactly one year from now, and what they see might embarrass the hell out of us.
“It’s hard not to see what’s happened in L.A. over the last few days,” Meola said. “We’re hoping that things like that don’t happen (next year) and affect the World Cup, but every day in our world, there’s something going on.”
That’s true, of course, and unavoidable for whichever country hosts an event like this. The difference is, it is hard to pretend the United States can be a welcoming host when our default position on foreigners has become one of hostility and aggression.
New Jersey will host eight of the 104 World Cup games next year, and that will give local sports fans an opportunity to experience a global party unlike any other. We can only hope that the current state of our politics won’t ruin the celebration for the rest of the world.
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Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com.