Big-time soccer — coming soon to MetLife Stadium, or another American venue near you. 

The United States will jointly host the 2026 World Cup, a major milestone in the country’s history with the beautiful game. 

But first comes the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins Saturday night with Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami hosting a game in South Florida.

The tournament has a new format with 32 club teams from around the globe and a mega prize pool of roughly $1 billion to be divided among the entrants. 

Over the next four weeks, some of the biggest teams in world soccer (think: Real Madrid, Manchester City) and some you’ve likely never heard of (introducing: Mamelodi Sundowns and Urawa Red Diamonds) will square off in 11 cities across America.

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Nine of the matches will be held at MetLife, including both semifinals and the July 13 final (all the matches are streaming on DAZN). 

To preview the tournament, The Post caught up with Cobi Jones, a legend of the U.S. men’s national team who knows a thing or two about big soccer games on American soil. 

Jones, 54, made 164 appearances for the USMNT, including all four matches at the iconic 1994 World Cup hosted in the States. 

The interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

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NYP: What are you most excited to see from this Club World Cup? 

Jones: I don’t think there’s a better place to hold the Club World Cup, especially this new iteration of it, because the U.S. is such a melting pot. A Club World Cup is bringing teams from all over the world to come here and play. So, I guarantee you there’s going to be a fan base for every team supporting it. This gives the average American fan — that maybe isn’t a soccer fan, but just is hearing about it — the opportunity to see some special games, because no matter what anyone says, when it comes tournament time, something special always happens. 

NYP: Who are some of the star players you’re interested in seeing in the context of this competition? 

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Jones: Do we even have to say Lionel Messi? To actually see him playing against other competition is great. Erling Haaland, the big man up top for Man City and everything he can do. And Kylian Mbappé [of Real Madrid]. 

I’m gonna jump to teams, too. You have the PSG that just won the Champions League. People should be doing whatever they can to get tickets to see PSG. Especially in the L.A. area, you have Monterrey from [Mexico’s] Liga MX. You go down to Brazil and Argentina, Boca Juniors, Flamengo, those are teams that are very known within the soccer world, but maybe not so much to the average fan, and to have those teams coming up here and playing, that’s something special. Bayern Munich, that’s another team. 

NYP: How do you think the MLS teams will fare, matched up with teams they’re not typically getting to play in a competitive environment? 

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Jones: I think it’s going to be harder for Inter Miami because they do have Messi, and I think everyone’s going to understand all eyes are going to be on Messi and his new club. … I do want to see the [Seattle] Sounders and LAFC, how they do match up against these big teams. Maybe, maybe some of these teams will overlook the MLS sides, and hopefully, that could be a little bit of the downfall for them. I do believe after this tournament there’s gonna be much more respect and a better understanding of MLS.

NYP: From your experience in American soccer, what makes MetLife an interesting venue for the marquee games that we’re gonna get here? 

Jones: It’s always great to see the crowds, and that’s something that not only as a fan that you can enjoy that environment, when it’s loud and there’s an intensity and you start to get the pulsing feel of an intense matchup, but also the players enjoy that and I think that translates onto the field. 

NYP: How do you think this Club World Cup can roll into the World Cup that is coming here next summer? 

Jones: We’ve had friendlies here all the time, but to have an actual meaningful tournament here, this is a great opportunity to see some high-level games, some high-level talent, and that’s gonna hopefully get the fan base excited. If they love this, it’s only natural to just build into the next year. It’s going to be less than a year away from the World Cup that’s going to be here.