Going to North America '26: tickets, accommodations, etc. (non-politics)

To give some local context.. parking and tailgating at KC stadium is extremely fun. Actually every US stadium is similar, but especially KC. Obviously little to no public transport (outside shuttle busses from downtown), literally everyone drives and parks there and tailgates. Grills, beers, games, music, etc. It's an extremely fun atmosphere and for a WC game I'd definitely do it.

Summary: if you have a car, I highly consider paying for parking and going a few hours early to tailgate in the parking lot. It's a huge tradition in the states.

If you don't have a car, just uber (or shuttle) and then walk around the parking lot to soak in the atmosphere. Everyone will give you beer and a dog.

 

Arrowhead is heaps of fun, probably one of the better NFL atmospheres as a fan. If Argentina plays there I´m sure it'll be the most fun game to attend in the WC

 

Isn't the station in Foxborough now on a regular commuter line instead of being the game day special spur that it used to be? I agree that folks should look for extra dedicated buses to be arranged by the host cities and/or FIFA for the stadiums that are in outlying locations.

 

That sounds like an awesome environment, hope there are some good draws for this venue!

 

I am considering doing an RTB purchase but am not comfortable with this Coinify payment requirement. Am I overthinking it? Have people found that transfering funds in and out of that is easy, or a pain?

 

A while back @marianelah shared a link to an RTB discord forum. It's probably worth asking in there as they seem to be quite familiar with the process.
https://discord.gg/sE6ZDtmB

 

This user has a step by step video

Keep in mind there may be a fire sale soon. Everyone will be forced to convert and there may be a liquidity problem to fund RTBs. Prices likely will come down even more. Doubt they come down much for Mexico games, if that’s what you’re looking for. Also, plan on redeeming for cat1 tickets.

 

I just took a look some of the listings on stubhub. The priciest matches are the final, semi-finals and quarter finals, followed by matches featuring Mexico, any match in Mexico, and then US/Canada host matches.

 

GREAT question. Sorry for the delay as I needed to take a look.

There was a CLEAR distinction which leads me to believe that only 5 of my applications were submitted (1 winner, 4 losers) and 100 were cleansed out and not considered. See below for my losers and the time of rejection. You can see that my 4 suspected "submitted" appications got rejection emails at 10:44AM and 11:16AM. All of the rest of my 100 suspected "cleansed out" application received after 12:13PM (9 at 1213PM, 38 at 12:42PM, 25 at 12:56PM, 5 at 1:20PM)

I did ask myself, "well maybe rejection emails came in the order of when I submitted the applications". That was not the case, many apps submitted later got earlier rejection emails and vise versa.

Anyone else have similar experience? Hypotheses?

My biggest curiosity is why 1 of my 101 "not clean" applications got considered and showed Open/Lost (another 15 applications were submitted on the same credit card and appear to be cleansed out). It is possible that it is because this account existed since last world cup whereas all others were accounts created at the time that I submitted the app (newly created account + duplicate credit card = cleansed out). I also wonder if they have a way to verify that the emails don't exist (all emails were 1 domain with email forwarding set up). Anyone have any ideas?

Note: all times US Central Time.

 

Wow this forum is becoming like the Open University.

 

That looks about right. But which matches in Mexico are you looking at? The June 17 in Azteca is a bit higher, but I’m seeing the group stage games in Guadalajara and Monterrey at around $200-300, which is about the lowest of any match right now.

 

I agree, and people should avoid FOMO if possible. Most around here haven't had much trouble purchasing tickets directly through the sales phases or supporter groups if they are persistent.

 

Good point, I had just glanced at matches 53 and 28 which were around $900. It looks like other matches are more affordable.

 

The product is for people who dont want to spend the time looking for tickets. Everyone values and uses their time different. If you want to secure cat1 tickets and forget about it.. the product may be right for you. If you are addicted to the chase like a lot of us... then it doesn't make sense.

 

https://inside.fifa.com/organisatio...p-26-tickets-sold-following-visa-presale-draw

In case there was any doubt, they specify single-match tickets to all 104 games, along with venue- and team-specific tickets available again in next draw.

 

does anyone know how fifa resell works with payment? will there be kyc in place or just refund back to card.

 

it's a refund. So credit back to your card.
https://gpcustomersupportfwc2026.ti...-get-back-and-when-will-I-receive-the-payment

 

Over one million FIFA World Cup 26™ tickets were purchased during the @Visa Presale Draw.

⚽️Tickets were purchased by fans from 212 countries and territories

⚽️Highest demand from United States, Canada and Mexico

⚽️Early Ticket Draw entry period to open on 27 October… pic.twitter.com/pGHz6n1iTA

— FIFA Media (@fifamedia) October 16, 2025

 

there is bit more info in here:

https://inside.fifa.com/organisatio...p-26-tickets-sold-following-visa-presale-draw

 

Thanks for sharing! The article states that the greatest demand came from the following 10 countries (in order): US, Canada, Mexico, England, Germany, Brazil, Spain, Colombia, Argentina, and France. I'm a bit surprised to see France in that list as their supporters are not typically known for traveling.

 

I'm sure demand numbers drop off a cliff after US, Canada, and Mexico. These are not just host nations, they are the only ones with actual dates and cities.

 

...and only 1 cat of their TSTs have been sold.

 

As long as it gets back to South Station I don’t care. It can’t be any slower than the crawl back from Met Life to Penn Station we made last year with a long wait at Secaucus.

 

I find the lack of info on match times such a headache - one day we have a 4 hour flight from New York to Dallas with games on 2 days.... Dallas game likely to be later than New York ones?

It's such a guessing game. So we wait to book flights and pay more - or go for crazy 6am NY flight...

One thing is for sure in going to my 9th World Cup (and phasing in my son) this is the biggest cash grab FIFA has ever played and they really rely on the FOMO in us - we need to hold nerve.

Sometimes you get lucky - in 2006 I had almost nothing but got the Final (only) in the last lottery.

TST's used to be the route to a Final ticket that wasn't too pricey, but can't see a way for the Final now... Cat 3 Semis are just about affordable... If you see some...

 

I’m assuming those are (as usual) listing the home address on the account and not the team supported. The applications from France are going to be a lot of supporters for Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and others. Same reason the US is always at the top of the list every World Cup (Mexico, Colombia, etc fans who live in the US).

You’re correct that France’s team has a much smaller base of supporters than would be expected and they don’t travel well at all. Tiny groups even at the past two World Cup final matches.