Chaos at the Stadium for the Final: Disorganization and Miles of Queues

Over 2,000 journalists and three-hour queues just to enter the stadium. Such a scene is unprecedented for a World Cup final. A brutal bottleneck formed today outside the entrances of MetLife Stadium. Access for media representatives turned into utter chaos. The wait to get in stretched over three hours, and the organization appeared completely unprepared.

“I’ve been here since 8:55 AM,” shared one reporter. Gates for the media were supposed to open at 9:00 AM, but by 11:00 AM, he was still far from the entrance. “I calmly have another hour and a half of waiting,” he added. If Times Square was gridlocked yesterday, the same happened today at MetLife.

This applied to the main, endless queue. “Over here, over here!” shouted a journalist. “This isn’t the press queue!” insisted another. It turned out to be Entrance 4. Hundreds of people, dragging suitcases, rushed through the stadium’s side areas to join another line. “The wait here is about an hour,” said one staff member. “You can enter through Entrance 3,” another reporter informed.

Accreditations were out, and confusion was etched on the faces of the controllers. “No, no, this is the VIP entrance,” one tried to explain, looking at the madness before him. “Come on, come on, just go through,” he conceded. The lack of communication and complete chaos characterized the situation just four hours before the World Cup final kicked off.

Amidst all this disarray, another detail stood out prominently: the overwhelming dominance of Argentinian fans over Spanish supporters. In the vicinity of MetLife, white and blue jerseys, songs, and flags that had arrived from Argentina clearly dominated.