Dan & I went to the FIFA World Cup game at MetLife Stadium (or “NY NJ Stadium”) on Monday, June 22 between Norway and Senegal. It was a super fun experience, and I will share a post on our entire experience soon. This post, however, details our experience traveling from Hoboken, New Jersey to Met Life stadium before the game, as we have received so many questions about it!

Amongst the few options available to reach MetLife Stadium, we opted to take NJ Transit from Hoboken Terminal directly to the stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. All in, the experience was easy and much less stressful than the news would have you believe. We would take NJ Transit again without hesitation (aside from the cost).

BUYING NJ TRANSIT TICKETS

One purchases NJ Transit tickets to MetLife Stadium/NY NJ Stadium exclusively via the free NJ Transit app, where the tickets live until used. There is a special option in the NJ Transit app for tickets to World Cup games right on the front page of the app.  To secure tickets, select that button, select your game, and select “Hoboken” as the station. You will then be given the option of 4 one-hour departure windows. For us, the options were 3:00 – 4:00 PM, 4:00 – 5:00 PM, 5:00 – 6:00 PM, and 6:00 – 7:00 PM. We opted for the 4:00 – 5:00 PM time slot in advance of an 8:00 PM game, which was plenty of time.

And yes, the tickets were $98 per person round trip (compared to $13 normally….). That was painful.

The tickets live in the app until they are scanned on match day. I would also note that while there is a lot of availability, tickets may sell out. We secured ours 5 days in advance without issue.

GETTING FROM HOBOKEN TERMINAL TO METLIFE STADIUM

We Ubered from our house to Hoboken Terminal 4.5 hours before the match was scheduled to begin, which is 2.5 miles. The Uber wait and cost were slightly higher than normal, but I think that was because it was raining (not due to the match). In arriving at Hoboken Terminal, know that you need to go to the actual train station terminal, not the underground Path stations.

Once you arrive at Hoboken Station, there are PLENTY of purple signs, as well as volunteers dressed in FIFA gear, directing you to the FIFA trains. Like, there are so many. There were also numerous Hoboken police on hand to assist with any issues.

In any case, once you enter Hoboken Terminal and are facing the trains, go all the way to the far left side. Again, many, many volunteers dressed in FIFA gear will point you in the right direction.  You will eventually enter the formal boarding area through a gate. Dan was pulled aside here for a random security screening by police. This took about 2 minutes. After the security screening, FIFA volunteers check that you have a match ticket – they just want to see it (they don’t scan it or anything).

You then enter a second boarding area, a bit closer to the trains. Here, NJ Transit staff scan your NJ Transit train ticket.

Once you are past that scan, you are given a NJ Transit bracelet, which is your ticket to MetLife Stadium and back to Hoboken. The bracelet was pretty secure and lasted us both all match without issue. This whole process took us about 2 minutes, but there was no line (likely due to our early departure time).

Next, follow the additional signs and volunteers and board the train! Our train left from Track 16, and this area is from where most of the FIFA trains depart.  The train leaves Hoboken directly for Secaucus, where it will stop. Importantly, you DO NOT get off here. Others will board, but you remain on the train.

The train will collect additional passengers at Secaucus before proceeding to NY NJ Stadium (or “The Meadowlands”), where everyone will depart the train. The entire ride from Hoboken took about 45 minutes.

Once you depart the train at the Meadowlands, you will see the stadium – it is very exciting!  It is then a flat walk to the stadium grounds entrance. The walk probably took about 10 minutes, maybe less. I was distracted by everything going on! Anyone with decent mobility should be fine.

The entire journey took us about 1 hour from our house to MetLife Stadium. It was incredibly easy and convenient.

LEAVING METLIFE STADIUM ON NJ TRANSIT

We also took the train back to Hoboken after the match. And yes, we stayed until the match was totally over, and left very shortly thereafter. In leaving, we really just followed the crowd toward the NJ Transit signs. The crowd moved slow, but there was never a standing wait. We boarded a train fairly quickly, about 20, minutes after leaving our seats. And to be clear, there are no options as to what train you take – you board the first one with room (sitting or standing) – they all go to Secaucus. No one checked our tickets or wrist band, but staff was yelling to have the wrist band visible.

As we were going back to Hoboken, we got off Secaucus to transfer to Hoboken. We looked for the location of the Hoboken train, but before we could even read the screen, a FIFA volunteer told us exactly where to go, which was just down 1 flight of stairs. We waited 25 minutes for the Hoboken train, which we easily boarded and found seats.

Up arrival at Hoboken Station, we called an Uber home, which took a pretty normal amount of time and cost. We arrived at our door 2 hours and 10 minutes after leaving our seat.

PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS

There is no Wifi on the train. There are restrooms on the trains, but coming home, you likely will not be able to use them due to the crowds (use the facilities in NY NJ Stadium or in Secaucus). It was standing room only on the way home.

Again, the way home was standing room only. I think this is pretty common.

If you happen to miss the Hoboken connection, you can also take the train into New York Penn Station and venture home from there.