The biggest sporting event in N.J. history is over. Was the World Cup worth it? | Politi

The Spanish players danced in a tight circle on the MetLife Stadium turf, champions of the grandest soccer tournament ever held. Argentina star Lionel Messi sat spread-eagled about 40 yards away, staring off into the distance as his legendary international career likely came to an end. A 50-foot-tall replica of the World Cup trophy, the prize that was about to be awarded in New Jersey, was beginning to inflate between them.

It was just after 6 p.m. on Sunday, and the biggest sporting event to ever take place on our state’s soil had just come to an end. Fireworks would soon ring out over MetLife Stadium in a brilliant display of lights, and golden confetti would cover everyone — even President Donald Trump — within a 20-yard radius of the raucous celebration.

The thousands of Spanish fans lucky enough to get their hands on tickets, most of them wrapped in red-and-gold flags, would sing two simple words as they exited the stadium. They are probably still singing them, and likely will be for a very long time.

“Campeones! Campeones! Ole, Ole, Ole!”

“Campeones! Campeones! Ole, Ole, Ole!”

“Campeones! Campeones! Ole, Ole, Ole!”

The World Cup final, years in the making for New Jersey, is finally over. No one would argue that Spain’s 1-0 victory over an overmatched Argentina team that didn’t even attempt a shot for the first 117 minutes of the game was easy on the eyes, but the spectacle itself is something that few in attendance will soon forget.

That list of spectators itself was an A-list party. Tom Cruise. Justin Bieber. BTS. Madonna. Matt Damon. Jay Z. Beyonce. David Beckham. Shakira. Jason Sudeikis. Brad Pitt. Javier Bardem. Penélope Cruz. Heck, even Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem (a.k.a. the Muppet Show band) performed at halftime.

The game might not have lived up to the hype. But the event itself? It would be hard to imagine a bigger show than the one FIFA put on in East Rutherford on Sunday afternoon, and as the world’s visitors depart in the coming days, we can now grapple with a single question they leave behind.

Was it worth it?

The answer, of course, depends on how you view the value of massive events like this. For all the talk of the economic impact, most economists would agree that New Jersey was never going to recoup hundreds of millions of dollars invested in hosting these eight games. FIFA even wanted to sell chunks of the MetLife Stadium turf for a profit — and cut New Jersey out of the profits, of course.

The ticket prices on the secondary market — averaging in the tens of thousands of dollars for the final to make this the most expensive sporting event ever — made the event comically inaccessible for the average fan, too. When a 15-minute ride on NJ Transit costs more than a good seat at, say, a Devils game, chances are that most regular folks opted to watch on TV.

Still, it is much harder to put a price tag on how an event like this can make people feel. The World Cup brought people together in a way that is exceedingly rare in these divided modern times. In that way, its impact goes far beyond what happened for three hours in the Meadowlands.

People wanted to be as close to this thing as they could. Early Sunday morning, hundreds of fans lined the streets of Montclair outside the MC Hotel in hopes — mostly futile — of catching even a glimpse of the Spanish players who were staying there.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a World Cup team here,” said Javier Tello, a 30-year-old fan from Passaic. He arrived shortly after 6 a.m., about five hours before Spain would leave the hotel for the game. A young fan behind him held up a soccer ball and a Sharpie as he pleaded with a reporter. “Can you tell Lamine Yamal to sign my ball?”

Scenes from the World Cup — some big, some small — unfolded all around us over the past two months. Maybe it was Senegal training at Rutgers. Maybe it was Norway fans rowing their way through the American Dream mall. Maybe it was England supporters singing “Wonderwall” on a night in the Meadowlands.

This was different.

This was special.

“I thought the Meadowlands did very well,” said Thomas Nassif, a Spain fan from Flanders. “I’ve been coming here for American football games for years, but this was a different experience entirely. It was great.”

New Jersey pulled it off, too. It wasn’t perfect, but given the worries about NJ Transit, traffic hassles and the stadium itself, it was as good as anyone could have hoped. Everyone involved — especially the thousands of volunteers who helped make the event possible — can take a much-deserved bow and an extended vacation.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill called it “a logistical work of art.” That might be an overstatement, but the event itself, and not New Jersey’s much-maligned transit system, was the story, and that was a major victory as the party came to an end.

“It’s like the wedding is here after you’ve had family in town for a long time,” Sherrill said at a morning press conference. “So I’m ready for the wedding, and then it’ll be nice when we can go back to normal.”

Chances are, if you have let this event consume your life over the past few weeks, the void will be hard to fill for a while. The biggest party in the world is over, and after an unprecedented six weeks for this state, New Jersey will be remembered as a damn fine host.

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