If you haven’t heard by now, the 2026 World Cup is not cheap.
The showpiece tournament in North America is set to be the most expensive ever, with the cheapest group-stage tickets 60 days out averaging $1,040.52 in Los Angeles and $1,028 in Dallas on FIFA’s resale marketplace. FIFA also takes a 15% cut from both buyers and sellers.
Match tickets are reportedly three to four times more expensive than the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and eight times more expensive for the final.
And that’s before you get on to other expenses such as car parking, inter-city travel and hotels – all inflated beyond belief.
The outrage and backlash sparked from football fans being fleeced even triggered New York and New Jersey’s attorneys general to launch a formal investigation into FIFA over allegations it artificially inflated 2026 World Cup ticket prices and misled fans about seating.
But the problem is, Gianni Infantino and his minions at FIFA know that football fans in their droves will pay whatever price is set to follow their team or country, opening up the scope to financially exploit their loyalty.
One such victim is Fulham supporter Joe O’Brien, who’s headed over to America to follow England in their bid to add another star to the Three Lions jersey.
He broke down his budget on social media, and some of the figures are staggering.
Flights: £2,599.38
“That’s about six flights, I think. I’m going back and forth for a couple of games.”
Accommodation: £1,638
“That’s a mixture of Airbnbs, hotels, and then apartments on booking.com and it’s usually split with one or two other people.”
Insurance: £120
“ESTAs, insurance, all that kind of admin stuff.”
Match tickets: £3,259
Enough said.
Spending money: £3,300
“I’ve worked that out, roughly £150 per day, and then I’ll convert into dollars when I get out there, just based on the duration of my stays.
“And look, I’m not going to be like trying to find the cheapest pint or like doing these cost hacks, the cost will be what the cost is at the end of the day.”
Other travel: £200
“Intermediates, buses, coaches, that kind of thing.”
Total cost: £11,116.38
“That covers two warm-up friendlies, which are this week in Florida, a group game in New York against Panama, last 16 game in Mexico, and the final.
“So the final is the big hitter, really. Everyone knows how expensive the tickets are to that. That takes up a large amount of costs. Will it be worth it? We’ll see. Will we even get to the final? Because that price goes down by a couple grand if we don’t.”