2026 World Cup organiser renews calls for America to host Premier League and Champions League games after Man Utd tour success

One of the organisers for the 2026 World Cup has renewed calls to stage Premier League or Champions League matches in the United States.

82,262 supporters were present at the MetLife Stadium for the first friendly between Manchester United and Arsenal in the States and there is a growing appetite for the country to host a meaningful Premier League match.

The former Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore was pilloried for suggesting a 39th game in 2008. The now-defunct International Champions Cup, the brainchild of Sir Alex Ferguson's friend, Charlie Stilitano, used to stage friendlies between elite European clubs across America and Asia while the States is currently hosting the six-team Premier League Summer Series.

Stilitano was one of a handful of figures in the soccer industry to endorse the Super League proposal before it collapsed within 48 hours of its announcement in April 2021. Although NFL teams annually play matches in London at Wembley or the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, staging English football games overseas is anathema to matchgoing supporters.

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Phil Murphy, the Governor of New Jersey, is in the midst of trying to convince Fifa to stage the 2026 World Cup final at the MetLife Stadium, which hosted Manchester United's 2-0 defeat of Arsenal on Saturday.

Murphy, who owns the women's soccer team Gotham FC, was asked by President Joe Biden to attend the World Cup in Qatar and the Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand as part of the US delegation but was unable to.

Speaking ahead of United's 2-0 defeat of Arsenal, Murphy was asked about the prospect of competitive matches taking place in the States: "I would