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

supporter group did the draw for it last night

 

If Canada makes it to the Final, there's going to be a LOT of cheap tickets on the resale platform

And the fun part will be that some of you will be holding $4K tickets

 

And they withdrew the money straight away ?

 

Seeing how the cheapest ticket for the final of a "niche" league like american college football is 4k USD makes me realize that the FWC final will definitely not go any lower than that regardless of which teams are playing, yikes US money is crazy.

 

Even Canada would hold prices. It’s the final of the most popular sport in the world.

 

College football is rather easily the second biggest sport in the US tbf, although I agree the WC final will not go below FV regardless of who is in it.

They didnt do it via the FIFA platform which does not appear to be the norm.

 

Back in Brazil 2014 there was a thread on this forum for ticket trading - is that not a thing anymore? I joined the Whatsapp group mentioned by someone in this thread and it seems to be full of sketchy sellers with no connection to this forum trying to shill Afcon tickets..just reposting the same thing over and over again.

 

You joined the wrong group.

 

Care to send me an invitation to the correct group?

 

Also, is there a specific reason there is no ticket sale at face value thread as in previous world cups?

 

Not sure if this would make it impossible, but “face value” is very complicated this time, as it’s different for every game and keeps changing. The best we could manage there is “pay what I paid”.

 

That's a good point, especially if seller has to post screenshot of sale confirmation as evidence - that would help avoid these ridiculous resale prices we're seeing everywhere else. Previous threads didn't allow scalping/touting and that was reported to mods.

 

I wouldn’t call college football “niche” (it’s probably the second most popular sports league in the US after the NFL). But yeah, these prices definitely show what the US is capable of paying for a major event.

Though one thing I’ll say is that this particular matchup is sort of lightning-in-a-bottle scenario compared to the norm (a more typical price of $1500-2000). We’ve got Miami playing at home and Indiana as the largest alumni base in the country but never wins anything major (or even competes). It’s kind of similar to the Colombia-Argentina Copa America final. Or if England played Mexico in the World Cup final this summer.

 

I'm betting on England meeting Mexico in the Round of 16 in Mexico City! I've got an England PMA for their R16 and they would both need to win their groups and of course win their R32s. But being in the England section amidst a sea of Mexicans would be amazing (only topped by being in the USA PMA section there...sadly not possible... have to wait for the USMNT's next friendly or world cup qualifier there...at least I was there for our only Azteca victory in a 2012 friendly).

 

Being nosey, apart from joining the ESTC have you been to any games to earn caps?

I only ask because the R16 game is the only oversubscribed knockout game and so you probably need a minimum of 2 caps to get a ticket, unless there was a lot of cancellations after the final guidance was issued.

 

Isn’t it that the federation/club does an internal draw, they feed that into the FIFA system as a guaranteed ticket allocation, and the payment is taken with the rest of the lottery ticket allocations in February?

 

I was thinking the same, you need to have attended at least 11 matches to be guaranteed a PMA ticket. Anything below that will be balloted. Also, a dangerous game transferring these tickets to someone else.

 

By "niche" I meant that the total amount of fans from both teams are quite small, there are maybe 1 million alumni for both universities combined? Compare that to the literal most popular sport in the world where they're representing their countries with tens of millions.

 

Yes. Been to USA v England in Rustenberg, England v Croatia in Russia, and England v France in Qatar.

 

Damn, I misread the guidance on England R16. At least I have a shot at Cat1 for R16. I do root for England being part English but the USMNTbis my #1.

 

Depends on the federation.

For Canada (CSA) the supporter group did the draw, submitted the winners names to the CSA and then the CSA will distribute the tickets in May/June. Supporter group collected payments and then remitted them back to CSA.

Probably a cleaner way to do it if there was more time but a significantly better model than say the USSF where you could end up inadvertently getting a $1,300 opening match ticket etc

 

Tournament games don't earn caps though. It does annoy some members but the logic is that tournament games are the reward for all the attendance previously. Caps are also earned on a 4 year cycle, so only caps earned after Qatar count for this World Cup.

This was the final guidance for the R16, although there was time for change between this being given out and the window closing...

"Round of 16: TBC

The allocation and category splits for this fixture are as follows:

-Supporter Premier - Cat 1: 750
-Supporter Standard - Cat 2 : 750
-Supporter Value - Cat 3: 1050
-Supporter Entry – Cat 4: 450
-WC/Companion ($TBC): TBC
-Easy Access/Accessible ($TBC): TBC

-Total: 3000

Members who are on 22 active caps or above are in the top 70% of applicants for this match.

Members who have between 62 and 61 active caps would be guaranteed Supporter Entry – Category 4 ticket based on current applications.

Members who are on 60 active caps would be entered into a mini-ballot for any remaining Supporter Entry – Category 4 tickets

Members who are on 37 active caps or more would be guaranteed a Supporter Value – Category 3 ticket based on current applications.

Members who have between 36 and 22 active caps would be guaranteed a ticket in the top 70% and are advised to apply for a Supporter Standard – Category 2 ticket and select the option to move down.

Members who meet the 4 home 2 away matches attended criteria, but are below 22 active caps, would be guaranteed a ticket and are advised to apply for a Supporter Standard – Category 2 ticket and select the option to move down.

Members who are on between 21 and 2 caps who do not meet the 4 home 2 away matches attended criteria will be entered into the ballot for all remaining tickets and are advised to apply for Supporter Premier – Category 1 and select the option to move down.

Remaining members who are on fewer than 2 caps will not be entered into the ballot for this match as it stands. You are advised to apply for Supporter Premier – Category 1 and select the option to move down to be in with a chance should applications change."

Every other knockout round was under-subscribed on the last information we were given, so if you've applied for any of those you should be okay.

 

I was the one who gave you the WA group link.

Sorry you didn't find it useful but I secured tickets for the Euros through the group last time round as did a few others I connected with. Sellers there do seem to get vouched for and I have only ever seen one instance of someone complaining they had an issue with seller.

Yes there have been loads of Afcon tickets on there but you'll also see WC tickets too. You just have to sort out the wheat from the chaff I'm afraid.

To be clear I don't have a dog in the fight, was just trying to help.

 

One question that I can not find the answer in the q&a portal. If you have already 2 tickets for certain match and category, and you buy 1 additional tickets in the same category from the resale portal, will the 3 of them be seated together? Thank!

 

I would think as of now, yes. Once seats start being assigned, no.