NJ Gov. Phil Murphy invited Donald Trump to Club World Cup final at MetLife Stadium
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy extended an invite to President Donald Trump to attend the Club World Cup final being held at MetLife Stadium next month.
Murphy was attending an event for the one-year mark until the 2026 World Cup — being jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico — when he mentioned a conversation he had with the president.
'I spoke to the president on Saturday night, invited him to the Club World Cup final,' Murphy said as part of an answer about the dialogue between the Trump administration and the New York/New Jersey Host Committee, which is organizing the World Cup efforts in the region.
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3 New Jersey governor Phil Murphy at a ceremony to announce a renovation of the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan.
Stephen Yang
3 Photo of workers at MetLife Stadium working on installing the soccer turf for the FIFA Club World Cup.
Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
While Murphy said he extended the invitation, the governor explained that, 'I'm not sure he could come.'
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.
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The Club World Cup, a 32-team tournament of the top teams from domestic leagues across the globe, is set to begin on Saturday night with a match between Inter Miami and Al Ahly in Miami.
MetLife Stadium will host nine games during the Club World Cup this summer, including a quarterfinals match, the semifinals and the final, which will be played on July 13.
Murphy lauded the group stage matches, with MetLife's first game of the tournament being a contest between Brazilian club Palmeiras and Portuguese side FC Porto.
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3 President Donald Trump arrives on stage to speak at Fort Bragg.
STAN GILLILAND/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
'My guess is we'll have 40 to 50,000 folks there for the kickoff, which will be really cool,' Murphy said.
The tournament, in a way, is a dry run for next year's main event, which will be played across 11 cities in the United States and five in Canada and Mexico.
During Wednesday's event at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, Murphy expressed confidence that the World Cup matches next year in the New York/New Jersey region would be 'a blowout success and a safe World Cup.'
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