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

I’ve been to the past three World Cup Finals and you’re correct, the atmosphere is as good as you can expect for an event held at a neutral site. Everyone, even the corporate types and neutral fans, are all super excited to be there and there’s a special buzz in the air throughout. There won’t be massive blocks of supporters of the teams playing but that’s fine. Everyone tends to be too nervous and focused on the game to get much into cheering. I agree there should be more than 8% made available but most teams aren’t going to sell that out on short notice anyway.

In contrast to the final, the earlier knockout rounds are usually beyond dead. Empty seats when there are unexpected upsets, extremely high face value tickets, neutrals and locals who sometimes were hoping to see another team, very few fans of the teams actually playing - only those with extreme flexibility and/or some luck and the ability to plan ahead.

But I agree in general, higher ticket prices do correlate with a less raucous atmosphere. That’s simply the case in all sports all over the world, and your point about wealth correlating with age is also very true - younger crowds are more energetic. Obviously higher prices will exclude some amount of the most passionate fans while lower prices will not.

 

You may or may not like the guy but he's literally the only politician I'm aware of that has called them out, I'm ashamed that all of the mexican 'leaders' have done nothing but kissed FIFA's butt

 

I think you mean Copa America final

But yes, the “security” people in the stadiums in Qatar were helpless and incompetent. Their only solution was to call in those Pakistani “police”, who somehow were even more incompetent but also angry.

All of them were hired only for the World Cup in brand new stadiums. The NFL stadium security (for better or worse) are much more experienced and already in place. There were reports that Miami way overcompensated for the CWC, such as opening the parking lots only 1.5 hours before kickoff and kicking out Flamengo’s drum section for not standing at their exact assigned seats. I personally experienced the CWC in New York, which was like an angrier version of TSA getting inside and I had a cop put his hands on me for entering the wrong section. Philadelphia was a free-for-all but that’s how it rolls there

 

Where do we see cleansed, winner results. Need a step by step lol

 

hes kissing it too. just needs votes today. But he'll fall in line starting tomorrow

 

I'm sure there were loads of Argentinians in the crowds at the 2014 and 2022 finals. Quite a lot of Croats in 2018 too. I think any nation likely to make the final would sell out 6-7,000 tickets, even at very high prices. They will already have supporters in the USA for the semi and New York is globally well connected.

The problem with the cost is that it does price out the young and they're the noisiest. Ticket prices are a large part of the reason the atmosphere in the Premier League is generally sterile these days. Atmosphere adds value for the corporates so there is a business case for "supporter sections" at lower prices. Although how would you guarantee those went to genuine supporters. Millions would like to go so the tickets have to be rationed somehow. To an extent I would rather FIFA extracted the value than touts.

 

I didn't have temporary jails on my 2026 World Cup bingo card, but apparently they are in the works:
https://www.kmbc.com/article/kansas-city-approves-22-million-temporary-jail-world-cup-2026/69063739

 

What a joke.

 

The whistling at the France-Morocco semifinal was terrible. I think my ears are still ringing thinking about it. We were happy when France scored mostly because that cut off the whistling.

 

This is becoming absurd.

 

I don’t know if you will see 2 matches in a day in Saudi. We went there for a couple of weeks after Qatar 2022 was over. We had a rental car and distances were huge. I imagine they will build stadiums in some of the smaller cities/locations currently without them in order to get people to travel around the country.

 

Kansas City seems very enthusiastic about hosting. Maybe a little bit clueless but very ambitious and ready to host the world. I need to find the article where they mention the KC organizers were sent on expeditions to Europe, Mexico, South America, and elsewhere to observe global soccer fans in their native habitat. Bars are allowed to stay open 24/7 during the World Cup, a free stadium transport plan. Maybe I need to add KC to my travel list.

Honestly though, I think the temporary jail is probably just because they heard about “football hooligans” and think they'll need a solution. I’m sure the average Chiefs game sees more violence and drunkenness than these World Cup games will.

 

Their current plan is 8 stadiums in Riyadh, 5 in Jeddah, and 3 in three other cities

So there will probably be some double or triple match days available.

 

KC is the red headed stepchild of 2026. They're stepping up the preparation and hopefully I get a chance to visit.

 

Well, maybe, but I really don’t think they will stick to that because things are going to be changing in Saudi Arabia in a huge way in the next few years. They are pushing the NEOM development so much, and it is basically a bigger version of Dubai on the upper Red Sea coast, that I can’t imagine there will not be one or more stadiums built there. That development should be finished by the World Cup. They are also building the Red Sea resort complexes up the coast from Umluj. We stayed there and that was a full day’s drive to Jeddah. Everyone should try to visit that area, with fantastic beaches and clear water. Hopefully, it stays that way. And then there is Al Ula, which is a long day’s drive (or more) from Jeddah or Riyadh. They are pushing tourism development there but it is probably best if they don’t build a stadium there in that area, to keep the area relatively well preserved. There is a lot to see in Saudi Arabia. We look forward to going back, maybe more than we are looking forward to the 2026 $$$ World Cup.

 

8 stadiums in Riad alone including the main one ala Lusail which will most likely host the late evening game, I'd say it'll definitely be doable at least a handful of days

 

An article on how things are usually done in Australia. No FIFA manufactured fomo, dog eat dog, profit at all costs, vomit inducing crap when it comes to a big event. People here simply shrug their shoulders if they miss out. Scalpers are frowned upon. BTW Oasis were awesome last night. The Gallagher boys still have it.

 

No one wants to see tickets end up in the hands of scalpers. But personally, I rather like that I can almost always buy resale tickets for a sold out event online (even if it’s at a markup).

The way to beat scalpers is to control initial distribution, not eliminate resale platforms. Banning Viagogo etc won’t stop it, it just pushes it underground. I don’t really miss the days of Craigslist ads and handing cash to people under railway bridges for paper tickets that you pray are legit.

 

That’s a good article, and it’s great to see controls that are actually enforced rather than ignored. Plus, I learned what the word “spruiking” means, hadn’t heard that one before.

 

Are you talking EURO 24 last year in Germany? NO there was no resale portal from UEFA and it was actually a big point of contention because the touts had a field day on the 3rd party platforms.
Of course, unless the organization limits the resale to FV then they become part of the scam... uh, FIFA, anyone listening here?

 

See, it CAN be done...! But not in a capitalistic country like the US where corporate profits run the country (and the politicians), and making tons of money - however that be! - is viewed as "being successful". Scalpers included...!

 

They did offer resale at FV, but maybe not what you were envisaging, given its limitations.

https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/histo...o-2024-ticket-resale-platform-opens-for-fans/

https://www.1boxoffice.com/en/news/uefa-euro-2024-ticket-resale-platform-opens-for-fans

 

As someone who has purchased "underground" tickets for a Major Events Act event in Victoria, Australia, I gotta tell ya...it's a different attitude Down Under. As OzRed said, the vast majority of fans will play by the rules and are quite happy to "shrug their shoulders" if they didn't score tickets through primary distribution at face value. Now by "shrug" my experience is that they complain about prices as much as anyone, rail against corporate types getting more than a fair share, and demand "real fans" get priority. They'll also scour Craigslist and fan forums and such...but only for face value. Hmmm...kinda like what this place (previously?) professes to support. Of course, there's still scalping but it seems exceptionally limited by the relative lack of demand. Light but highly visible enforcement of that law...may help? AFAIK there's no law in WA and it's not like there's rampant resale there. (Update: There is a law now, but there wasn't much of an issue before the law. 2 whole charges laid in the last 4 years since the law was created.)

Different attitude in general around "fair play" there compared to the "If you're not cheating, you're not trying" attitude in North America. The difference in how players respect each other - and the vilification of sporting heroes who cheat - would shock most insular U.S. fans I know.

Oh and Kalifornia...Australia is a pretty capitalist economy last time I checked. But the 2026 WC won't be in Australia and any concept of "fair play" for fans isn't on the table this time around.

 

Have to agree with everything you say.

 

I decided early June to go so I guess everything was already sold through that platform. Still I'm not sure why I wasn't aware of it...