Read how World Cup 2026 has descended into chaos before even starting...
Every four years, every corner of the world comes together, putting aside their differences to enjoy the beautiful game. This year, the beautiful game comes to the USA. Well, technically the USA, Canada and Mexico but most games and the final will be played in the United States. Nearly all major nations will play the majority of their games in the United States, including England and Scotland. Adding in the new format, which includes an additional round of 32, this World Cup has the potential to be the biggest and best edition of the tournament yet. That is…
If you can get a ticket…
Or a VISA…
Or can afford it…
Some major and unfortunate caveats are coming to this edition of the World Cup, and could potentially ruin the tournament. So what is happening?
The first problem many have encountered is the ticket lottery. When the first batch of tickets went on sale last summer, 4.5 million fans signed up to be in with a chance for one (BBC). However, complaints have been rampant. According to a recent article by The Guardian, many people have struggled to get tickets, especially in Canada due to how few matches are being hosted there. In relative terms, this could be considered a minor problem, but there are far more pressing issues.
Even if you got through the queue, you still have to pay the price. FIFA has reportedly adopted a dynamic pricing model, which would mean that ticket prices for matches deemed high demand would have significantly higher prices. The official 2026 World Cup bid said the cheapest tickets in the tournament would range from £15 to £96, however, this has proved to be false (Sky Sports). The cheapest ticket for the World Cup final costs over £3,000 for English supporters, with prices going up to £6,471. For Scots, their opening match could cost up to £373. To compare, those attending the Euro 2024 final in Berlin could buy tickets from just £83.
Complaints have been lodged with both the English and Scottish FA’s by fan groups, and FIFA have refused to comment. The Football Supports Europe (FSE) group have described it as a ‘monumental betrayal’ of fans (Sky Sports). While American Sports are notoriously expensive, for Europeans and many other people who are travelling to the World Cup, these prices are eye-watering. It has been calculated that for an average England fan to attend every game of the World Cup, assuming England reach the final, it would cost just over £6,000 at a minimum. Even the most die-hard England supporter may think twice about paying that sum.
The VISA situation is just as worrying even if the situation has improved from a few months ago. A priority visa appointment system for the World Cup, speeding up the visa application for tourists attending the World Cup. Additionally, while news of the 75 country-long-list of visa process suspension did dominate the news a couple weeks ago, the State Department have confirmed that this is for immigrant visas only, meaning that tourists and athletes should have minimal problems. So for the majority of nations and hopeful attendants, there shouldn’t be too much issue.
There are important exceptions to this. US travel bans having placed upon a number of nations by the Trump administration (BBC). There is a full US travel ban on 2 World Cup nations, Haiti and Iran, and a partial one travel ban on two more, Ivory Coast and Senegal. Fans of these nations will be unlikely to or be an impossibility to get approved for a visa to enter the USA for the tournament. Considering Ivory Coast and Senegal are two of the strongest African teams, having won the last two AFCON’s and with potential for a strong run in this year’s tournament, fans will be left without the chance to see what could be a historic tournament for these nations. Further threats against nations by the Trump administration over their stance on Venezuala could result in further bans, including one of the co-hosts Mexico. Seemingly, the World Cup may be facing many empty stadiums, with some of the world’s best footballing nations not being able to bring their fans to the tournament.
The competition has not yet started. Many of these issues could be resolved. However, if they aren’t, there could be many disappointed fans and many empty stadiums, ruining the experience for all fans. Maybe, when England (hopefully) lift the World Cup in the summer, everyone will say that it was an amazing tournament. However, politics, as it has many times, has once again bled into football and tainted the beautiful game into something it never needed to be.