As you may have heard, the FIFA World Cup is imminent. We're now exactly one week away from the opening match in Mexico and this felt like the right time to lay out our coverage plans here at the New York Soccer Journal.
The big news up top: Three (3) of our writers —Matthew Mangam, Mark Radigan, and Michael Battista — are credentialed for the tournament and will be providing on-site coverage from matches played in New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Boston.
We'll be putting extra emphasis on the matches closest to New York City held over at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Nine different national teams are coming through the Tri-State Area just for the group stage, so one of our first coverage initiatives is publishing helpful previews of all nine of the teams guaranteed to play at "New Jersey/New York Stadium." Those previews will roll out leading into MetLife's first match on Saturday, June 13, when Brazil faces Morocco. The first preview is live now and it's all about Morocco, and you can read that here for an idea of what to expect as we ramp up to the games beginning.
Andrew Leigh
As for the matches, when we've got a reporter on site, we're guaranteed to be publishing a match report that catches you up on the highs and lows of each game. When we've got multiple reporters on the scene, which we should have when the games are at MetLife, we'll also run a piece that covers what key players and head coaches said in their post-match press conferences and mixed zone availabilities.
That's our boots-on-the-ground approach, but that's not all! This is an outlet that covers New York City FC, so we'll be paying close attention to the teams with NYCFC players rostered for this World Cup: The United States and Australia.
You may have already seen our USMNT coverage around the roster reveal and pre-World Cup friendlies. That will continue, and we'll also sprinkle updates in about the Socceroos, since Aiden O'Neill and Kai Trewin will be out there, maybe even facing their club teammate, Matt Freese.
There are also myriad World Cup-related events, watch parties, activations, and so on, all planned in and around New York City during the tournament. I'll be trying to find opportunities to add coverage from some of those events when possible, and when it seems like something of interest to you our readers.
That's our plan. Now, where you the reader comes in: Follow us and our writers on social media. NYSJ is here on Bluesky, here on Twitter, here on Instagram, even here on Threads.
Matthew (Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky), Mark (Twitter, Instagram), and Michael (Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky) will be out there at the stadiums on the East Coast giving you regular from-the-scene updates.
Even more helpful: If you aren't a subscriber already, please become one! All this coverage we have planned will be made possible by people who pay to subscribe to our site, or who make a one-time donation to support our coverage.
The vast majority of our World Cup coverage will be in front of our paywall and free to read, but some select pieces we run will be for subscribers only, so get on board now and ensure you don't miss anything from our big, busy Summer of Soccer.
