Looking ahead to the World Cup 2026

Some serious soccer fans at Patrick M. Villano School are already looking ahead eight years. That’s when the 2026 World Cup finals will be held at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ.

“It’s pretty cool that it’s going to take place in MetLife,” sixth-grader Diana Tamayo said. “[I feel] excited. I want to go …”.

“I think it is very cool because we will be able to drive to watch it,” sixth-grader Andrew Croci added.

There’s plenty of time between the finals in East Rutherford and the next World Cup, however. That will take place in 2022 when the games are held in Qatar.

“France is going to win. [They will win] because France is good and skilled, and they won last time,” Sophie Nisonoff said.

Nisonoff is referring to France’s win over Croatia 4 -2 this year. The team from Croatia worked hard to make it into the finals. For many soccer fans, this was known as the “Underdog Year” since some teams unseated bigger and better opponents. Croatia finished top in the group stage beating Argentina 3-0. They went on to beat Denmark, Russia and England before losing to France in the finals.

Teams from Mexico and South Korea beat Germany which is known as one of the best teams. Belgium, also an underdog, made it to the semi-finals. They beat England and then Brazil, but eventually lost to France.

France has some incredible fast and strong players including Kylian Mbappé, Antoine Griezmann, and Paul Pogba.