World Cup 2026
- Thread starter EganSoccerWords
- Start date
twsj91
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It's not even that there are awful games being played, its that the group stage is all but meaningless. Essentially all but two 3rd place teams will be advancing. There's nothing at stake anymore.
honestly think most games will be pretty empty in these giant stadiums with the combination of not great matchups and very high ticket prices. with any luck, FIFA will go back to less teams qualifying but that's probably not happening.
ZYanksRule
Registered
The ticket prices are the big one for me. They wouldn't be able to get away with this anywhere else, but since they can get away with it here, they are trying it. I hope the logistics are awful and FIFA gets an enormous amount of flak for what they are about to royally screw up.
If prices drop precipitously in the run-up to games I may pick something up, otherwise my couch is comfortable and will give me the same viewing angle I've had for any other world cup in my lifetime.
Honestly the best reason to hope they come is to give them a chance for asylum.
And that’s also the real reason why their government might not let them.
www.abc.net.au
Also, lol Defector.
And that’s also the real reason why their government might not let them.
How a daring escape by Iranian soccer players secured their asylum in Australia
Australian officials waited on the sidelines of the Iranian football team's final game in the Gold Coast on Sunday, signalling to players help was available if they wanted to talk. The government has granted asylum to five athletes who escaped from their hotel with assistance from Australian...
www.abc.net.au
Also, lol Defector.
And in...lack of public transportation for the vast majority of stadiums
ZYanksRule
Registered
And literally hundreds of dollars to park.
Here I am thinking Yankee Stadium's $46 parking charge is insane, now FIFA goes for like 5 times that. Criminals.
Marito
Registered
And the threat of ICE presence for most LatinAmerican fans
But 500 million ticket requests!!!
ZYanksRule
Registered
This world cup is nothing more than a criminal enterprise. I am completely turned off from it as a USA soccer fan and I can't imagine how in the world we are growing the game with this level of scamming happening.
www.nytimes.com
Train tickets to MetLife Stadium from NYC set to cost more than $100 during World Cup
A return ticket via NJ Transit for the 18-mile journey from New York Pennsylvania Station ordinarily costs $12.90.
www.nytimes.com
This world cup is nothing more than a criminal enterprise. I am completely turned off from it as a USA soccer fan and I can't imagine how in the world we are growing the game with this level of scamming happening.
Train tickets to MetLife Stadium from NYC set to cost more than $100 during World Cup
A return ticket via NJ Transit for the 18-mile journey from New York Pennsylvania Station ordinarily costs $12.90.
This ties into them shutting down those trains for regular commuters during game day and times. Someone has to pay for the extra trains.
It'd be cheaper to take a bus to NJ that isn't gonna be affected by the WC, then find your way to the stadium from there.
The whole thing is just crazy though. The pricing on everything is just completely unreasonable. I will be absolutely shocked if the stadiums are even half full at these prices considering the state of the domestic economy. Every event held in the US seems to be like this lately and it's disgusting.
ZYanksRule
Registered
It is. We are being universally scammed for nearly every entertainment product. The dam has to break at some point because this is insane.
I have a hard time wrapping my head around how we even got here. I need an econ person to explain it to me because it's just head spinning. Where did the demand come from for these prices, they must have data telling them that even at these prices the tickets will sell? Are the stadiums going to just be empty because they got too greedy? Are there more wealthy people now than in 1994? Did they wildly underprice it in 1994? Are super fans just willing to allocate larger sums of their disposable income to events that they care about than they used to be? It's not only sports prices for all entertainment events just keeps going up but the demand never seems to drop.
Based on some lazy AI googling the numbers are insane:
1994 World Cup Ticket Details:
- Average Ticket Price: $58.
- Group Stage (Low): ~$25.
- Final (High): ~$475.
- Inflation Adjustment: In 2026 dollars, that $58 average would be roughly $110–$111
| Tournament Stage | Category 1 (Top Tier) | Category 2 (Mid Tier) | Category 3 (Entry Tier) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group Stage (Neutral) | $700 – $1,200 | $500 – $900 | $120 – $200 |
| Group Stage (Host Nation) | $1,500 – $2,735 | $1,100 – $1,800 | $400 – $700 |
| Round of 16 | $640+ | $515+ | $240+ |
| Quarterfinal | $1,775+ | $1,200+ | $450+ |
| Semifinal | $3,295+ | $2,350+ | $930+ |
| Final | $6,730 – $10,990 | $4,500 – $7,380 | $1,490 – $5,785 |
In retrospect, I agree with this wholeheartedly. It will be much more money well spent to travel to Spain/Portugal/Morocco to attend a world cup match.
Prices in the table seem a bit low to me. Below is a screenshot of my attempt to get tickets. Tickets were $265 and I'd consider them Group Stage (Neutral) CAT 3.
I did not get selected to complete my purchase, which I am completely ok with and in retrospect, pretty glad. As much as attending a world cup in the US would be awesome, it's just disgusting how greedy they are trying to be.
Yes, absolutely. I don't know the extent to which this explains it but it is a major factor.
More specifically, the upper middle class and modestly wealthy strata have both grown massively in the last few decades. The true median range middle class has been hollowed out, but mostly by people moving up not down.
This is why airport lounges are packed, the most frequent fliers can't get upgrades, and why golf, skiing and amusement resorts such as Disney are simultaneously more expensive than 30-40 years ago, yet more crowded and generally a worse experience. Real estate in the most desirable neighborhoods in and around every US city is much more expensive because the number of households earning $150k to $500k is so much larger today than the number making the inflation adjusted equivalent in the 80s and 90s or earlier.
This phenomenon is also largely confined to the US. The wealth divergence between here and Europe has exploded in that same time frame, to the point where even true median wealth in the US is equal to or sometimes higher than the professional class over there, even accounting for subsidized healthcare and higher education (the latter of which is open to many fewer people in Europe than here).
If anyone doubts this, it is very easy to confirm. A 5 second DDG search turned up this article from a week ago. There's lots of data and sources on this. This specifically references 1979 rather than 1994, but the change has been ongoing the whole time.
The upper middle class is now the largest income group in the U.S., study finds
America's middle class is shrinking, but not because people are getting poorer. Instead, more households are climbing the ladder, new research suggests.
www.cbsnews.com
Old man yelling at the clouds.... you also have a influencers, who are willing to buy over priced tickets to show that they attended the match and how much they spent to get additional views. Plus you have the bots who are the setting the cost, and then bots on the other side buying the tickets to then flip. I didn't realize Judgement Day would be the robots fighting over my wallet.
