Amid exceptional atmosphere ahead of the 2026 World Cup final, the surroundings of the New York-New Jersey stadium turned into a scene of unprecedented congestion, after stringent security measures forced fans to wait for hours before entering the stands.

The reason was not only the historic match between Spain and Argentina, but also the personal attendance of US President Donald Trump, which prompted US authorities to raise security levels to the maximum.

The 82,500-seat stadium hosts the anticipated final clash between the Spanish and Argentine teams, with the match scheduled to kick off at 10 PM Saudi time.

According to BBC Sport, the intensive security measures were partly due to Trump's attendance at the match, which is the only game he decided to watch in person during the 2026 World Cup. As a result, the US Secret Service took over security supervision of the event, causing long queues that lasted about two hours for some fans.

Those entering the stadium are subject to two levels of security screening: one supervised by the Secret Service, and the other under the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which is usually responsible for security procedures at airports. Fans and media personnel underwent thorough inspections similar to those at US airports.

A media person revealed that upon arriving at one of the gates, he was asked to move to another queue due to the absence of guard dogs designated for bag inspections at that gate.

World Cup volunteers inside the stadium, according to BBC Sport, reported that the number of fans who arrived early was much larger compared to the previous seven matches the stadium hosted during the tournament.

Gates were opened to fans four hours before kickoff, and the organizing committee intermittently opened additional gates to ease congestion and speed up entry.

Despite these long queues and unprecedented security measures, the organizers do not currently expect any delay in the start of the match or any disruptions affecting the anticipated final.