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World Cup 2026
- Thread starter EganSoccerWords
- Start date
Reposting from June with small edits:
Here is how US Soccer allocated ticket chances for 2022 Qatar.
Some important notes:
- they can change this completely for 2026, or make minor tweaks, or whatever
- even the highest level just got you better odds
- to get into Group A you needed to be a Circle Insider (minimum $500 annual) but you just had to be in that level when the draw happens. There was no benefit to length of membership for Group A.
- My read of Group B was VIP Insiders who joined at any time and Family Insiders active before a 2018 cutoff -- but it's not clear to me if "active" meant at any level or as a Family Insider. But I would assume the latter to be safe
- Group C was Premium plus Family Premium who did not meet the cutoff
- Group D includes all standard insiders
- People in Group A qualify for all 4 draws. If they don't win the first Draw they are re-entered in Draw 2, and so on and of course the first draw has the best odds with the fewest eligible participants
- all guests of the insider must also be insider at any level
Again, this could change, but my takeaways are:
- join at the highest level you can comfortably justify now and maintain for 4 years, and think about upgrading a year ahead of time -- 2025 I guess -- to the highest level you can afford for one year. We have no idea if the Family Insider cut-off rule will apply again, and if so at what level(s). But this approach covers both contingencies at whatever level you can afford
- make sure all your friends and family members are insiders at some level by 2025
Finally, ticket demand among US Soccer fans in 2026 will exceed Qatar by orders of magnitude. I presume demand for Qatar was lower than usual (though who knows, maybe I'm mistaken) and of course demand for games in North America and especially the US will be off the charts.
Also, for other non World Cup games in the US - both Men's and Women's teams - members usually get timed priority to purchase which can vary how they slice it up. It's been a few years since they had a local game I wanted to attend (I think it was the doomed Costa Rica qualifier in 2018) so I haven't paid attention too closely. But IIRC I think you get a code and a time/date. But it's pretty clear that the 2026 will work very differently from that.
Is this just for USMNT matches or for any matches in general?
I will go to any game nearby. I don't care if it is UAE vs Poland.
I will go to any game nearby. I don't care if it is UAE vs Poland.
I believe membership is for all USSF matches & covers women & children matches as well. All non USMNT matches at WC will be sold through FIFA (and non USSF allocated tickets of US matches as well). Good luck with that process, as it will be a scalper’s paradise. After that you’re buying from the scalpers/secondary market and paying a fortune.
adam is right that USSF tickets are usually just for US team games, but we normally don't host games between other countries (outside of limited appeal things like the Gold Cup). I would guess - which means I don't know - that the local federations will get a ticket allocation for the knockout games in addition to games involving the hosts, because they will sell knockout tickets long before we know the matchups, (even if some first round knockout pairings might be subject to being guessed). So there's no way to assign knockout tickets to the proper federations and there's no reason not to allocate at least some to the hosts. I would also expect the USSF will get some very limited public allocation for the final, ie not just for VIPs, though I expect the lottery or donation minimum for that will be absurd.
This is great stuff mgarbowski, thanks. I think I will pull the trigger on a Family Premium now and for the next couple years to build up credit.
It's too bad. If I lived in Ohio, I probably already would have joined up since they seem to get several games a year.
Second hand tickets are going to be insane - at least for the USA matches.
Leading into the next World Cup, there should be some chances to watch the USA, including a couple of Gold Cups and Nations League, and (hopefully) the Copa America. If we are fortunate, at least some of those games have to be in New York.
It's too bad. If I lived in Ohio, I probably already would have joined up since they seem to get several games a year.
Second hand tickets are going to be insane - at least for the USA matches.
Leading into the next World Cup, there should be some chances to watch the USA, including a couple of Gold Cups and Nations League, and (hopefully) the Copa America. If we are fortunate, at least some of those games have to be in New York.
MetLife hosted 3 games during the 2016 Copa America, including the final. I just went through my emails and though the USSF sent me emails about the games, I'm not sure my USSF membership got me priority. I did have priority as a NYCFC STH at the time. Access to tickets for the final was via a lottery among people who bought tickets to the first 2 MetLife games. I did, sold my tickets to the group and quarterfinal matches, and just went to the final between Argentina and Chile.
Well, they approved the new 48 team format. I love the fact that we failed to make the field in 2018 and Italy failed in 2022. France has failed and Germany has failed. Qualifying has mattered. No mas.
Well, they have to compensate for allowing three host country teams…
People are making way too big of a deal about the addition of 16 teams. (aside from the obvious FIFA money grab, which is fair)
There are a LOT of really good teams out there, and the number of participating countries since the world cup was introduces has dramatically increased.
Also, the extra 16 teams that would make it are also pretty good teams, it's not like San Marino is getting in. (except concacaf for some reason getting 3 more teams, but pretty sure that's only for '26 bc of the triple host and we'll see that drop in '30)
Great video on this topic with reasons why it might work out well, even though it's a blatant FIFA money grab:
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My issue isn't that the teams that get in will suck, it's that the big teams will never miss. Consider these most recent misses for each team:
Italy - 2022
USA - 2018
France - 1994
Argentina - 1970
England - 1994
Spain - 1974
Mexico - 1982
None of these teams will ever miss a WC again. And this list could be a lot longer.
And what about this? At last year's WC Mexico, Germany and Belgium all got knocked out in the group stage. In the new format they all advance. This format adds drama for the lower half of the field. It absolutely takes it away for the upper half of the field.
(And all this from the eternal optimist might I remind you.)
ETA: Just watched the video. That guy and I are maximizing for different things. I have 3 years to get in the mood for the new format. I'm sure I'll manage.
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I agree it takes some of the drama out of qualifying and early rounds. Unfortunately, Fifa likely sees ensuring all the major nations are at the WC each time and they likely make it beyond the group stage as a feature to ensure TV revenue rather than a bug that reduces the drama of the WC.
According to the video Shwafta posted, Italy would have missed last year even with the extra spots for Europe. I also think it makes a good case for why why both the raw number of countries participating in international soccer plus the number of talented countries has expanded enough to justify the expansion.
Personally, I'd rather see more good teams from around the world play than have them miss out. I'd rather watch Germany or Italy play very good sides from Asia, Africa and the Americas than pay attention to the Europe qualifying with games against the Faroe Islands and Gibralter. I also really can't care about S.America, Africa or Asian qualifying. Even CONCACAF I I honestly only watch US qualifying games. It's always the same teams playing each other over and over and over. But give me Ghana against Denmark or Peru against Japan and I'm fascinated. I respect the opposite preference, but this is more interesting to me.
Someone has clearly never experienced the beauty of Chad vs Ecuatorial Guinea...
ZYanksRule
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I don't even want to think about what ticket prices will be for any of these World Cup games, much less the Final. Better start saving now. We're going to be extorted for tickets to that thing.
