Want free World Cup Tickets? N.J. is giving away 770.

Several hundred New Jerseyans — including youth soccer players, young patients, first responders, and health workers — won’t need to shell out admission to catch a World Cup match in person.

The state is giving 770 free FIFA World Cup tickets to a targeted set of residents under a new initiative announced Tuesday by Gov. Mikie Sherrill and the tournament’s New York New Jersey host committee.

The tickets will be distributed across five group-stage matches and two knockout-round games to be held over the next few weeks at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. Tickets to the July 19 final at the venue are not included.

This is not a public lottery. Instead:

• 500 tickets will go to youth soccer players from underserved communities across the state, Make-A-Wish pediatric patients receiving care through Hackensack Meridian Health, Bergen County first responders helping with the tournament, and New Jersey National Guard members deployed overseas.

• 200 tickets will go frontline nurses and other healthcare workers, and pediatric patients.

• 70 tickets can be won through the New York New Jersey World Cup Host Committee’s Welcome World Rewards program. Residents can score them by patronizing participating small businesses and attending New Jersey World Cup Community Initiative events.

500 tickets will go to youth soccer players from underserved communities across the state, Make-A-Wish pediatric patients receiving care through Hackensack Meridian Health, Bergen County first responders helping with the tournament, and New Jersey National Guard members deployed overseas.

200 tickets will go frontline nurses and other healthcare workers, and pediatric patients.

70 tickets can be won through the New York New Jersey World Cup Host Committee’s Welcome World Rewards program. Residents can score them by patronizing participating small businesses and attending New Jersey World Cup Community Initiative events.

“Today, we’re giving fans another opportunity to get to the game,” Sherrill said Tuesday morning during a packed press conference at Hackensack University Medical Center, four days before the international soccer tournament begins Saturday.

“I’ve been focused on making sure the World Cup benefits everyone in our state, and we are here today with so many fans, wonderful elected officials, people that have made all of this happen.”

The announcement came a few weeks after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled a separate agreement with FIFA and the host committee to provide $50 tickets and free round-trip bus transportation to 1,000 New York City residents.

That program did not include New Jersey residents, amplifying tensions between Sherrill and FIFA over the cost of transportation and tickets in the lead-up to the World Cup.

New Jersey’s giveaway is the result of a public-private partnership involving the governor’s office, the host committee, Uber, Hackensack Meridian Health, and Choose New Jersey. It’s funded entirely through private donations, officials said.

Alex Lasry, the host committee’s CEO, said the committee “worked closely” in recent weeks with Sherrill and corporate sponsors to secure “additional tickets for the people of New Jersey.”

“I’d like to thank the governor for her leadership in ensuring that hundreds of New Jersey residents have the incredible opportunity to take part in this once-in-a-generation moment,” Lasry added.

Sherrill said she was excited to welcome the world to the Garden State for the World Cup, which begins Saturday.

“But we want the experience, first and foremost, to be accessible and affordable for as many New Jerseyans as possible,” she said.

Sherrill said the state has launched 34 fan zones across New Jersey with street fairs and watch parties, “so people from Bergen to Burlington can celebrate the tournament with family and friends.”

Among the patients receiving tickets is a 12-year-old named Andrew who has undergone cancer treatments over the past six months at Hackensack University Medical Center.

Despite the recent tensions between the governor and FIFA, Sherrill made clear Tuesday she expects the Cup to be transformative for the state.

“All the eyes are gonna be on New Jersey,” she said.

Also on hand Tuesday was Tony Meola, a Kearny native who was the goaltender on the U.S. men’s soccer team the last time New Jersey hosted the Cup, in 1994 at old Giants Stadium.

“It’s an exciting time,” said Meola, who also played professionally for the New York/New Jersey MetroStars and New York Red Bulls. “We’re about to invite the entire world to the great state of New Jersey.”

Read the original article on NJ.com. Add NJ.com as a Preferred Source by clicking here.