For this group, a weekday game around midnight is not a novelty. It is the moment when work and family commitments finally leave room for sport.
Players from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Mexico, Egypt and elsewhere have built their football network through a group chat. Without a permanent home, that chat has become the organising centre of a team defined more by availability than geography.
The timing also explains the demand. At an hour when organised sport has usually finished, a lit pitch can turn an empty field into a meeting point.
The report says the overnight fields provide a legal alternative to games previously played in parks after closing time. Some of those sessions reportedly ended with police summonses.
That gives the lighting plan significance beyond the tournament. It is not a replica of a World Cup venue, and it does not need to be. For players in worn T-shirts rather than official kits, the essential detail is that the pitch is open and usable.
One field in each borough also offers a citywide response to a problem that is often treated as a private inconvenience: public football facilities do not always match the hours of the people who rely on them.
World Cup preparations are usually measured through stadiums, transport and fan zones. Hasnat’s group highlights another test: whether the event creates lasting access for ordinary players.
When the tournament ends, the key question will be whether New York keeps any pitches lit late into the night. For the Football Family, the next fixture may be less important than whether the city’s temporary solution becomes part of its weekly football calendar.