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

In 1998 the hype started only once France had won the tournament.

 

Agreed. Hard for everyone to get hyped when they feel like they're getting robbed. There were thoughts about getting mugged in South Africa and Brazil pre tournament that ended up being just fear mongering... This time around it's for reals lol.

I wonder if Spain and Portugal 2030 will have the ticket price protections that all our European members are proud of...

With current events I'm 100% sure the Saudi Arabia 2034 World Cup will have affordable tickets.

 

Anecdotal, but a lot of the people I've been talking to here in DFW ("normie" types who don't follow the sport but would normally get excited for events like the World Cup and Olympics) aren't even aware there are going to be games taking place here in a few months. There's been very little visible marketing on the ground.

 

I'm assuming the higher ups at FIFA just think all tickets will sell whether to a tout or fan and capitalism will just do it's trick and find someone in the end but that's a very dangerous approach imo

 

As a longtime LA guy I've had the same experience. Most of the fans I know would love to see a World Cup match or two but are boycotting because of the prices.

I assumed all along that the combination of FIFA and Trump would ruin the whole thing. I got picked for a ticket package at SoFi Stadium but I'm thinking of just selling everything. As someone who doesn't care about the US team the games in LA are pretty dreadful. Italy-Switzerland is the only remotely interesting match.

 

I saw that as I booked my Airbnb's both In Houston and Dallas. Some people raised it to 1000 a night while other are still at regular prices

 

I'm a bit conflicted on interpreting the lack of hype. I think almost every recent world cup has had huge proportions of fans with reasons to not be excited about it. Qatar and Russia had many people annoyed with the corruption in which they were selected and then the human rights issues with the host nations. Brazil and south Africa were filled with commentary about how they wouldn't be ready and there were safety issues. I'm not minimizing or commenting on the legitimacy of any of those issues or the current issues driving people to lose interest. My point is that there always seems to be widespread annoyance and desire to be disinterested but somehow, once the games kick off, things work out. I think this is also driving the hubris of FIFA that no matter what it will be great. At some point, they will push too far and people really will be apathetic to it, but my gut tells me, people will get into it once it starts. This is independent of the fact that I also believe ticket prices, on the whole, will drop and there will be empty seats at some games

 

Same, I talked to some people who have been to the last 5-6 World Cups who will skip this one because of how crazy prices are and because a lot of people find traveling to USA very unappealing right now. I am pretty sure prices will come down for most games.
Thanks god the next one will be a good one....

 

I think all the instability in the world, the pathetic ego driven world leaders on ALL sides playing 'war' for real, economic uncertainty as well as corrupt fifa taking fans for an absolute ride is having an effect on the joy and excitement in looking forward to a World Cup and generally on everyday life. Last WC I was buzzing months out, super excited. Bit different at the moment. Hopefully it'll kick off again in a month when ticket portal re-opens, seating is assigned, play-offs happen, fifa wakes up and suddenly offers more affordable tickets to fans and things cool off a bit in the middle east.

 

Another downer to add to the list is the bullshit process to get a visa. This is something that was never a part of previous World Cups.

 

I bought tickets (TST) for Iran's matches in November. What will happen to my tickets?

I am hoping for a free Iran where Iran is respected globally and hopefully a secular democratic Iran emerges from this. I have my doubts but I am going to be optimistic.

 

The past two (Qatar and Russia) were actually notable exceptions to the norm in offering visa-free travel for ticket holders.

I personally had to get a visa to go to Brazil in 2014. Maybe others can speak to earlier ones.

 

The Brazil visa was a nightmare. Had to apply in person and took forever.

 

I have been through all of those visa processes and the USA one is hands down the worst in terms of cost and time taken.

 

I'm under the assumption that Australian citizens can simply apply for an ESTA to enter the US which normally is a straight forward process. A mate who I'm going to WC with applied during the week without any drama's. I'll be doing it soon. I think Canada has a similar system.

 

If you are from a country which doesn't qualify for an ESTA(which would be almost half the qualified countries) then it is a whole different ballgame.

 

As an Aussie,(and us), you only need an eTA for Canada if you fly into the country, passport will do if you cross by land. You’ve needed an ESTA for all US VWP entries since Oct 2022 when it became required for land (and some ferry) entries.

 

If you don't care about the hosts US and Canada, then the West Coast (LA, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver) is definitely not the place to be at during the World Cup for the first round. As far as I can see, only BELGIUM #9 (FIFA rankings) will play there. Time to get flights to:
- NY (FRANCE #3, ENGLAND #4, BRAZIL #5, MOROCCO #8, GERMANY #10, SENEGAL #12 and NORWAY)
- Dallas (ARGENTINA #2, ENGLAND #4, NETHERLANDS #7, CROATIA #11)
- Miami (BRAZIL #5, PORTUGAL #6, COLOMBIA #14 and probably ARGENTINA #2 in R32)

 

I agree with a lot of this on a worldwide scale, but the increasing costs of everyday things and some not easy travel lessen the hype in the host countries. If you live in North America, but not that close to a host city, the added costs of going definitely sting and make it much harder to travel around to follow a team or for the later stages.

I was really only looking going to 2-4 matches from the start because the logistics here are quite hard compared to other big events in other locations.

 

Yep. For someone hoping to see the traditional big name teams the draw for the west coast was brutal. I’m going to Dallas for England-Croatia. I thought about traveling around more but I’m so disgusted with FIFA & Trump that I decided to not bother.

 

Yeah, same here. And it is not just the size and cost of traveling in North America. This WC format makes planning a lot harder. I was looking at where could Uruguay play if they end in 3rd place and it is just crazy. Anywhere from Seattle to Boston to Mexico City. I'm starting to lean towards just attending the game against Saudi Arabia and then going on vacation somewhere else.

 

Marianelah,
I get you. the World Cup is OUR THING, but this is the worst. Now to be fair, there are three hosts, but the one that one that hosts most of the matches gives the impression it doesn't want the WORLD to come to it.
Forget the prices, go to the matches you feel the price is appropriate for. Our people in all three countries will enjoy 26. In the stadia, the bars in the countries.
For the people who love hype, they have Dancing On Ice and all the rest of the stuff (@@@@) that we have had to put up with for the last four years.

 

If Uruguay finishes 3rd in that group, they won't deserve your presence there

 

Just returned yesterday after a trip to watch the NRL openers in Vegas and got a reply on my ESTA application within 2 hours of paying the $US40 application fee. This was my 5th trip to the USA over the last 20 years and the 1st time I encountered a friendly smiling immigration Officer. My impression of them from the 1st four visits (even though I had no issues getting processed) was that they were generally grumpy people who hated their jobs and the people they encountered. Maybe it was because this time I entered through Hawaii rather than LA.

 

Definitely should have led with you entered from Hawaii! No comparison at all with how people are treated there vs the other states! Lol