By: Staff
The world is coming to New Jersey for the 2026 FIFA World Cup™, and under the extraordinary leadership of Mayor Tony Vauss, the Township of Irvington is stepping into the spotlight with confidence, pride, and purpose.
Located just 14 miles from MetLife Stadium, where the world’s greatest sporting event will command international attention, Irvington is transforming proximity into participation.
Through its involvement in La Plaza De Fútbol, Irvington is ensuring that local businesses, restaurants, entrepreneurs, community organizations, cultural partners, and residents are not merely watching history unfold nearby — they are helping shape it.
This is more than a soccer story. This is a story of a mayor, a township, and a community refusing to be overlooked during one of the largest global events of our time.
“We are 14 miles from MetLife Stadium. But we have been world-class all along,” said Mayor Tony Vauss.
“The World Cup is about unity, culture, pride, competition, and possibility. Irvington represents all of that, and we are ready to welcome the world.”
The FIFA World Cup™ is unlike any other event on earth. It brings nations to a standstill, fills streets with flags and music, unites families across continents, and draws the eyes of millions upon millions of people around the globe.
For many communities, the World Cup is something watched from afar. For Irvington, it is becoming something lived, celebrated, and shared.
Mayor Vauss’ vision is clear: when a global event of this magnitude comes to New Jersey, Irvington’s people must be seen, its businesses must be included, and its culture must be celebrated.
Through La Plaza De Fútbol, Irvington’s small businesses and local partners will have a platform to connect with fans, visitors, families, and international guests.
Restaurants, dessert makers, cultural vendors, community groups, health partners, and township representatives are already bringing the excitement to life through fan-centered activations, business showcases, cultural displays, and community engagement.
Recent images from Irvington’s World Cup-related activation captured the spirit of the moment in vivid detail: Mayor Vauss standing with a World Cup soccer ball, greeting vendors, joining business owners, visiting community tables, participating in a ribbon cutting, and standing among displays representing food, culture, public health, refugee support, economic development, and local entrepreneurship.
The images show a township alive with energy — colorful, diverse, welcoming, ambitious, and ready.
“Major global events should not only benefit major venues,” Mayor Vauss said. “They should create real opportunity for local families, small businesses, young people, workers, and communities. Irvington is showing what happens when leadership makes sure the people are included.”
Irvington’s participation is especially powerful because the township already reflects the spirit of the World Cup. Its residents carry roots across the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, and beyond.
Its streets, schools, churches, homes, businesses, and neighborhoods reflect the same global unity the tournament celebrates.
“Every flag in the World Cup means something to someone in Irvington,” Mayor Vauss said. “We are a community of many cultures and many stories, but we stand together as one township.”
This moment also comes after years of transformational progress under Mayor Vauss’ leadership. Guided by his mottos, “Keeping our community clean and safe” and “One Team. One Dream,” Mayor Vauss has led Irvington with a focus on public safety, cleanliness, redevelopment, infrastructure, youth engagement, senior support, recreation, wellness, business development, and civic pride.
Under his administration, Irvington has achieved remarkable public safety gains, including an approximate 51% reduction in overall crime and a 72% reduction in violent crime between 2014 and 2021.
In 2025, Irvington recorded just one homicide, the lowest annual homicide total in the township’s modern history. These are not just statistics. They represent safer blocks, stronger families, more confident businesses, and a community prepared to welcome the world with dignity and pride.
Mayor Vauss has also advanced road improvements, sanitation initiatives, neighborhood preservation, homeownership programs, business development, job fairs, recreation, youth programming, senior events, wellness activities, holiday celebrations, and family-centered community experiences.
Those efforts helped create the foundation for Irvington to stand proudly in this global moment.
Now, as World Cup excitement builds across New Jersey, Irvington is making a statement that reaches far beyond geography.
It is not simply close to MetLife Stadium. It is close to the heart of what the World Cup represents: unity, joy, culture, courage, and shared human possibility.
Mayor Vauss is inviting fans, families, visitors, and residents to experience Irvington during the tournament season — to visit its restaurants, support its businesses, enjoy its events, meet its people, and witness the pride of a township on the rise.
“Come eat with us. Shop with us. Celebrate with us. Experience our culture,” Mayor Vauss said. “When visitors leave Irvington, I want them to remember the warmth of our people, the strength of our community, and the fact that this township is ready for the world.”
The 2026 FIFA World Cup™ will bring the world to New Jersey.
Mayor Tony Vauss is making sure Irvington meets that moment.
Irvington is not on the sidelines.
Irvington is in the story.
Irvington is ready to shine.