England and Scotland World Cup clashes in DOUBT as Three Lions face prospect of stadium move

With just 112 days to go until the World Cup’s opening game in Mexico on June 11, uncertainty has arisen surrounding one of the tournament’s key stadia and all seven matches scheduled to take place at the Gillette Stadium face being moved if a resolution is not found with the local Foxborough authorities.

As reported by The Sun, a license for the New England Patriots’ stadium has still not been secured and with the Patriots’ owners, the Kraft family, refusing to foot the £6m bill to cover manpower and infrastructure costs for the games taking place at the venue during the tournament, local authorities have reportedly given FIFA a deadline of less than four weeks to cough up the required funding.

Foxborough Select Board head Bill Yukna said: “The town is going to stand behind the request of the money for both manpower and some capital and expense items.

“And if they aren’t met, then as this board has discussed in the past, the license won’t be granted. We are going to be very clear with that.”

Select Board head Yukna stated in a latest meeting on the subject: “We have to secure that facility for 39 days straight, I think there’s a lot of manpower involved there. So all we’re asking for is a collaboration that gets us the answer as to who.”

Claiming the town has been preparing for three years to host the matches, he added: “We’ve got four weeks as far as we’re concerned. Without those answers and without us ordering some needed materials very soon, it will be impossible for us to implement those plans that we’ve developed.”

But Kevin Clark, FIFA’s World Cup 2026 Director of Venue Operations, disagreed that funding security is the responsibility of football’s world governing body.

Clark said: “With respect to the financial agreement, we have to defer to both the stadium and the host city. We are not in a position to comment on the financial requirements.”

With Foxborough Board members said to be ‘furious’ at the costs involved in hosting the tournament, they might reportedly ask the US Government directly for more federal funding in order to settle the row with FIFA. The £6m required would reportedly represent 10 percent of the city’s entire budget for 2026.

Gillette Stadium is set to host seven matches at the World Cup finals, including England’s second group stage match against Ghana and both of Scotland’s opening two matches, against Haiti and Morocco.

The stadium is scheduled to host seven matches in all: five group stage clashes, three of which include either England or Scotland, one round of 32 tie and one quarter-final clash. Foxborough is situated 22 miles south west of Boston and if the seven matches in question were to be moved at this stage, it would put a significant strain on FIFA’s planning on the tournament. Not to mention the implications for fans who have already made travel plans and booked accommodation with the current destination in mind.

All parties will hope that a resolution is reached quickly on the matter, which could have a significant impact on fans of both England and Scotland if their group-stage matches are forced to move elsewhere due to the stadium licensing issue.

With less than four months until the much-anticipated summer tournament kicks off in the USA, Canada and Mexico, authorities will hope to avoid running into further issues in the build-up to the tournament as they look to put on an unforgettable showcase across North America.