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

I’m pretty set with matches/flights/hotels.

flying to MX for M1
Flying back home to LA for M4
Going to M15 in LA (hometown)
Driving to SF for M20
Flying to Seattle for M32
Driving from Seattle to Vancouver for M27
Flying back home for M39
Driving to SF for M44
Going to M59 in LA
Going to M73 in LA
Going to M84 in LA
Flying to NY for M104

I still have a gap that needs to be filled; round 16, quarters or semi. That’ll be on a whim probably. Or I may watch from my sofa.

 

Any news on ticket prices? I think there is going to be a lot of sticker shock with the dynamic pricing when people get into the portal. We know that the Category 1 final ticket is 4.19x the price in 2022. I imagine initial ticket prices for other matches may have that same multiplier. We’ll see how many people want to pay more than 4 times what they paid in Qatar for tickets.

 

We know fifa is calling it variable pricing and stated they won’t use dynamic pricing . I’m going to guess fifa is pricing the final as a Super Bowl type event. Mostly VIP, celebrity types. Only real fans will be behind both goals. That’s why we see the price so high. Most other matches won’t be that high. I’ve been tracking Hospitality and the prices aren’t too bad. Except for the final and M1 which are ridiculously priced. But we’ll know for sure Oct1
https://gpcustomersupportfwc2026.ti...rmine-ticket-prices-for-the-FIFA-World-Cup-26

 

But I'll add to the math that from one timeslot to the next, purchasers will purchase fewer tickets on average as their preferred tickets are unavailable. So maybe 10 tix/per for the first timeslot, but 5 tix/per for the 10th timeslot (or let's say 10,000th winner). Maybe 1 for the 100,000 winner, so there'd be....250,000 winners? 500,000? Depends on your formula.

Obvious example: U.S. winners looking for U.S. tickets that sold out in the first 2 days, buy zero tickets and move on. Or just a pair of local tickets that don't conflict with their preferred match, and try again in November.

 

I saw Qatar airways packages the other day. $13000 for TST3 with hotels 14 nights and air tickets. category 2 tickets. can someone compare it to Qatar 2022 package pricing? good indicator to know about ticket prices differences

 

I thought those leaked prices for Match 1 were also in the 4x-plus Qatar price range. So, your thought is only the opening match and the final are going to have that huge price increase? I hope that is true but I doubt it.

 

Lowest hospitality in Qatar was $950. Lowest in 2026 is $1250. That’s about a 30% increase. I’m assuming the Cat 1 increase should be around the same %.

again, I think fifa sees the USA final as a special once in a lifetime event. The Azteca opener as well. Both are priced accordingly in Hospitality.

 

The price leak was walked back a bit. Leaker said his estimate was an average that may have included hospitality. But we’ll see.

But the math for all other hospitality is clear. I doubt fifa will be pricing cat1 tickets only a few hundred dollars bellow hospitality.

 

Good point, the hospitality is a direct price comparison we can make.

But also I think we’ll see prices listed at a much higher starting point in these early phases and then eventually settle out to a 30% increase for the average, medium demand match (higher for special matches and the host countries).

 

So, using the Cat.1 multiplier based on Qatar prices, tickets to the final would be:
$2,531 for Cat.3
$4,203 for Cat.2
$6,730 for Cat.1
I am not even including Cat.4, because there will probably be so few of them, if there are any at all for the final.

That is a pretty outrageous pricing structure. Dynamic pricing should take that way down in the coming months.

 

A Belgium vs Croatia would bring the price to $500 or lower. Variable pricing will be our friend at that point

 

Hahaha. Good point. I will be rooting for all Latin American teams to get eliminated so that dynamic pricing will crash. I expect that just about any matchup of European teams, not involving England, will bring prices down for the later elimination matches.

 

The GOAT Ronaldo will retain value. Spain also. Everyone else… meh

 

Portugal, maybe, also because there are a lot of people of Portuguese heritage in the USA. Spain? No, not in my experience. We went to the 2010 semifinal and final, which were firsts for Spain, and they had almost no fans there at those matches. And it was not like it was unexpected. Unless something has changed dramatically, Spain’s fans don’t travel much outside of Europe. The same is true for France. So, a very possible final between Spain and France, for example, could have relatively light demand. France also for the fatigue factor, given that they have already been in 4 finals in the last couple of decades.

 

You’re probably spot on. Europeans don’t travel well outside of Europe. Ronaldo fans will mostly watch on TV.

 

Portugal is always a weird one to me since they will have a massive pull here due to Ronaldo, but it has been very easy to get tickets through their federation allocation (did it for the cancelled Euro 2020 matches and then again in Qatar). Haven't seen anything from them about '26 yet though.

The big one for me assuming they qualify will be Italy, they will have mammoth support in North America.

 

Yeah, but they’re gonna get grouped . Lol

 

But Italy is another fan group that doesn’t travel much. And their fans in the USA, based on what we saw in 1994, are more of the casual type, unlikely to drop huge $ on tickets.

 

you are under-estimating Croats

 

They can make the final. But won’t fill the stadium at 5000 ticket price. lol

 

Yep. There were guys offering tickets to the final outside the FIFA ticket office in Moscow in 2018 for $1,500. And there were a bunch of Croatians there looking for tickets. They just didn’t want to pay $1,500.

 

I think you'd see very different activity for WC2026, not just for Italian-Americans, but for Italian-Canadians as well.

 

https://inside.fifa.com/organisatio...1-5-million-ticket-draw-applications-24-hours

"
A mere 24 hours into the entry period for the FIFA World Cup 26™ Visa Presale Draw, FIFA has received an impressive number of applications from all over the world, with more than 1.5 million fans from 210 countries having signed up.

The highest demand has thus far come from fans of the following countries: United States, Mexico and Canada followed by their counterparts in Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, England, Spain, Portugal and Germany."

 

From my experience at the Euros 24 and trying to get tickets last minute, as well as living in the US (West Coast), these are the countries I think will fill up stadiums
Europe:
- you can remove GERMANY from the list, of course they had lots of support at the Euros in Germany but the team is not great. Not sure they will qualify. German fans are tired of the lousy results.
- ENGLAND, for sure, always. Probably the "truest" fans within Europe
- Add PORTUGAL... getting tickets to their games at Euro was impossible. Ronaldo will be there, they have world-class players and their fans will follow them to the moon...
- Add FRANCE. They have a shot at redemption and there is a very large French community in the US
- Maybe the NETHERLANDS and DENMARK, great fans too
South America:
- BRAZIL, ARGENTINA games will always be sold-out. Their fans travel and the Brazilian community in the US is huge.
Central America:
- MEXICO, for obvious reasons. How many times the US played Mexico in the US and felt they were at the Azteca stadium
- I would not discount some smaller central american fans to fill stadiums considering the immigrant population in the US. Namely GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, COSTA RICA
Africa, Asia:
I don't think any team will have a following big enough to fill stadiums. I may be wrong but if so probably SOUTH KOREA and maybe JAPAN and SAUDI ARABIA
Hosts:
Aside from MEXICO already mentioned earlier, USA fans - if you a call them that! - will buy any ticket at any price, they are used to outrageous spending at American football games. Of course I generalize, there are true fans in the lot but they are few in between. They will fill the empty seas in the stadium. CANADA wouldn't fill stadiums except they'll be playing at home, so same story as the US. I noticed on the schedule they already have the games and cities for the host teams scheduled, that's the best way to attract the max number of people and ensure the tickets will start at a high price and that's if you want to be behind the goals and/or at the very top level of the stadium. Let's remember most of the games are being played in the most capitalistic country in the world (USA) where money rules. It will be about the profits, not the fans... so let's get ready for a sticker shock! Per FIFA, their "adaptive" pricing is designed to achieve - and I quote - "price adaptations are made to optimize sales, attendance", ie filling up the stadiums at the highest price possible.