‘Hideous’ World Cup final stadium ruined Aaron Rodgers’ career and is FIFA’s biggest test in USA

The biggest test of the 2026 World Cup is still to come.

Instead of saving the best for last, FIFA decided long ago to finish the grandest tournament in sports history inside the worst stadium of this historic World Cup.

NFL superstar never was the same after MetLife injury

The good news is that Lionel Messi, Lamine Yamal, Argentina and Spain will battle for a golden trophy on real grass, thanks to FIFA’s insistence that all World Cup stadiums be fitted with a proper playing surface.

But outside of being state-of-the-art and costing $1.6 billion to build, New York New Jersey Stadium — better known as MetLife Stadium to NFL fans of the New York Giants and Jets — is in a horrible location and filled with bad history.

Remember when Aaron Rodgers proudly carried out an American flag … then only lasted four plays as the Jets’ new starting quarterback before tearing his Achilles?

That horror show took place in the same stadium that will now decide the 2026 World Cup finals.

“I thought it was a hideous experience going to MetLife,” talkSPORT host Simon Jordan said.

“A hideous experience and not one that I would care to repeat.

“Obviously the Qatar World Cup was a different dynamic so it is unfair to compare it to that.

“Walking onto the footprint of the MetLife and getting out of that, and taking the best part of an hour to come out of the footprint was hideous.”

World Cup final stadium is a transit nightmare

Having covered several NFL games inside MetLife, I couldn’t agree more with Jordan.

It’s lifeless, generic and almost impossible to reach without becoming super frustrated at both New Jersey and New York.

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The fact that what FIFA is temporarily calling ‘New York New Jersey Stadium’ is basically built upon a swamp near a river, and is nine miles from midtown Manhattan, proves how unfit MetLife is for Argentina vs Spain and Messi vs Yamal.

AT&T Stadium (Dallas), SoFi Stadium (Los Angeles), Arrowhead Stadium (Kansas City) and Azteca Stadium (Mexico) would have all been 100 percent better than an NFL venue haunted by both Jets and Giants memories.

“It’s garbage, man,” Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson said in 2023, after avoiding a severe leg injury at MetLife.

“You’re out there running and all of a sudden your legs aren’t in the same place your head is at.”

NFL injuries led to change — but no permanent grass

Major injuries to Nick Bosa (ACL), Jaelan Phillips (Achilles) and Malik Nabers (ACL) led to eventual changes, and FIFA’s real grass demand is a positive entering Sunday’s final.

“No NFL field should be the butt of a joke,” San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle said. “Ever. I feel like all fields should have a level of safety to it. I just don’t get why there’s not a standard for, ‘Hey, you gotta pick between one or two turfs.’

“There shouldn’t be 12 different turfs and 12 different grass fields. I just think that’s weird because most other sports, it’s not like basketball players play on different hardwood, soccer players in Europe all play on really nice grass. So it’s just weird to me.”

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But this headline from Super Bowl XLVIII still rings out — ‘NFL to review train station fiasco’ — after thousands of attendees were stuck waiting for transit hours after the NFL’s annual championship game ended.

“For the people who were inconvenienced and delayed, it was no doubt very frustrating,” NFL executive vice president Eric Grubman said in 2014.

“Probably there was anxiety because people’s dreams are to get to the Super Bowl, when they want to get to the Super Bowl and how they want to get to the Super Bowl.”

World Cup’s biggest test still remains

Overall, FIFA has recorded a big win during a 2026 World Cup that has bounced from Mexico and Canada to Seattle and Boston.

Initial predictions of large sections of empty seats are now laughable, even with overpriced tickets and USMNT being knocked out in the Round of 16.

More than 6.5 million fans have created a 99.7 percent stadium occupancy, pushing the 2026 World Cup to an all-time attendance record.

Now, the biggest test awaits in a stadium that cruelly dragged down Rodgers.

US President Donald Trump is expected to make a grand appearance, while a prolonged halftime show will likely annoy social media.

If FIFA successfully pulls off a brilliant World Cup final on Sunday inside the bad-luck home of the Jets, returning to the USA in 2038 for an even bigger tournament will be a given.