FIFA World Cup

[Vinny Green Balls]

Oh great so the stadiums are just going to be filled with real estate magnates and tech bros from The Nerd Reich. Some atmosphere.

[El Prontonise]

5 hours ago, Superior Acuña said:

Scotland just released details. 3.8K available for each game roughly, so I should get them. But as I'm at the lower points end I'll prob have to get the most exepensive of the three categories.

 

For three games $1800. Cheapest - prob unavail to me - $665.

 

Disgraceful.

 

Not that we'll have to worry about it, but $4185 *cheapest* fan ticket for final.

 

https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/news/ticket-allocations-and-prices-confirmed-by-fifa-for-scotlands-world-cup-matches/?utm_source=crm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20251211_SSC_Update_marketing&utm_content=Story1CTA&mc_cid=493c4bec60&mc_eid=bf0df66557

 

 

 

 

I think you'll be looking at $500 a night for hotels aa well while this is on.

[Vinny Green Balls]

3 minutes ago, El Prontonise said:

 

I think you'll be looking at $500 a night for hotels aa well while this is on.

At the very least.

[Deuce]

22 minutes ago, Vinny Green Balls said:

Oh great so the stadiums are just going to be filled with real estate magnates and tech bros from The Nerd Reich. Some atmosphere.

The world’s biggest shitheads all in one place. Kind of people who think Salt Bae is the height of cuisine. 

[Vinny Green Balls]

They’ll probably build statues of Curtis Yarvin at the gates of each stadium.

[madras]

1 hour ago, Vinny Green Balls said:

Oh great so the stadiums are just going to be filled with real estate magnates and tech bros from The Nerd Reich. Some atmosphere.

Ooh I'm nicking that.

[Vinny Green Balls]

13 minutes ago, madras said:

Ooh I'm nicking that.

I stole it from journalist Gil Duran

[SEMTEX]

1 hour ago, El Prontonise said:

 

I think you'll be looking at $500 a night for hotels aa well while this is on.

 

I mean a half decent hotel in NYC is $500 during busy season by default. I reckon you can double that number.

 

If any of y'all are from Curacao/Ecuador/Ivory Coast/Brazil/Haiti and need somewhere to kip before their matches in Philly, my garage is available for $300.

[SEMTEX]

On 05/12/2025 at 19:07, SEMTEX said:

Bought tickets on stubhub for both final group L games. Praying that when they announce location the Croatia/ghana tickets don’t end up plummeting to $3 a piece. 

 

I sold my croatia/ghana tickets for "more" than I bought them for, but ultimately ended up down $50 per ticket due to StubHub fees. And I only just found out that StubHub keep the money until after the event, so my $1180 now just sits with StubHub until July  

 

I wish I was StubHub. Absolute daylight robbery at every corner.

[cubaricho]

4 hours ago, Vinny Green Balls said:

Oh great so the stadiums are just going to be filled with real estate magnates and tech bros from The Nerd Reich. Some atmosphere.

My tech bro friend posted his bought tickets today.  

 

Tier 3 for USA/Australia. $600 out the door. 

[Superior Acuña]

6 hours ago, El Prontonise said:

 

I think you'll be looking at $500 a night for hotels aa well while this is on.

Luckily I’m not looking too bad for that, staying with friends and outside host cities between games, and some quick action from friends and myself got stuff sorted not too bad night/before after matches. Eg for an Airbnb room for just over £100/night for 2 nights in Boston for first match. Just room in house. 
 

My plan is 

Boston match 1

Stay with friend in upstate NY

Boston match 2 

Overnight on Amtrak to Savannah GA

2 nights in Savannah

Amtrak to Miami 

2 nights in Miami, match 3

Stay with friends in Dallas (then next round, if we get there, could be Mexico, leaving me well placed)

Finish in Chicago where I still have shit to pick up 

[leffe186]

Article from iNews on the pricing:

 

The 2026 World Cup begins in six months, and the financial reality of the tournament is finally starting to dawn on football supporters.

For all the myriad issues with Qatar, ticket prices were actually pretty reasonable. For all the myriad issues with Uefa, their pricing policy for the European Championship is roughly fair.

As you’ll find out, the same is not true for the upcoming World Cup…

The ticket prices are disgraceful, right?

That is the only obvious conclusion. This week, the Football Association announced prices for their friendly at Wembley: members of the England Supporters Travel Club (ESTC) will pay £25 to sit behind the goal. So far, so normal.

Also this week, the Croatian FA revealed the prices for the country’s matches at the World Cup, as determined by Fifa and the tournament organisers.

England have not released their own information yet, but prices are likely to be the same or higher. The Croatian “value” supporter tickets are $265 (£198) for the group game, the standard tickets are $500 (£374) and the premium are $700 (£523). For one group game.

It gets worse in the knockouts. The lowest category tickets for official Croatia supporters for the final (and England will be the same or higher) cost $4,185 (£3,125). A ticket in the same part of the ground as that Uruguay friendly in March (i.e. behind the goal at one end) will be $8,680 (£6,466), or roughly 259 times as much. Read that sentence again. This is a scandal.

Are there any other options?

Supporters do not have to take up the official tickets, but do if they want a guaranteed seat for each of England’s games. The other option is to try and get tickets on general sale for each match, as per the public. And there’s a chance that those prices could go lower than the initial price, if the demand is low.

There are three issues with that: 1) supporters would be sat in a neutral section, 2) if those tickets are sold out then you can’t go to the game at all, 3) England games are highly unlikely to go at a reduced price. It just means someone who has been to multiple England tournaments, in the official club, would miss out.

2. How long do fans have to save up?

This is the thing that should make you really angry. Not only are the ticket prices absolutely vast, but you also have to buy them in a job lot to guarantee being there.

You’re a member of the ESTC and you want to go to every game that England will play in North America. You are forced to buy tickets for all of the matches – eight including the final – at a rough cost of $5,000 (£3,725) even though you don’t know if England will be in them.

That includes both the final and the third-fourth place playoff, even though England can’t play in both.

And you have to pay for all of that up front, probably in February next year. At Uefa tournaments, money is taken round by round; not here. If England are eliminated before the final, supporters will get the remaining matches refunded. Will that include a handling fee? Probably.

And…this is just the tickets?

That’s an important point to make, yes. Accommodation prices are already inflated in World Cup cities, as are international and domestic flights. Public transport is non-existent in many areas of many host cities, so matchday travel may well require expensive taxis.

Once in the ground, food, drink and merchandise will be on sale at exorbitant prices and there will be limitations on what you can take in. Prices are likely to increase in cities away from the stadium because there is a captive audience.

One ESTC member The i Paper spoke to is simply not able to pay for the whole tournament and this would be the first competitive game that he has missed in years. He estimates that the cost for the tournament – tickets, accommodation, travel and living expenses – would be at least 15,000 for eight matches, assuming he got the “value” category tickets. He cannot afford that and he could not justify it even if he could.

We also priced up a 13-day trip for England’s group games alone, and the cheapest – including a two-day bus and staying in dorms – option was still north of £2,000.

Has the game finally gone?

Yessir. Watching your country play shouldn’t be the pursuit solely of the super-rich. Fifa shouldn’t charge prices on what they can to squeeze the most out of loyal supporters, but what is reasonable. This is so far beyond the pale that it has to cause a line in the sand.

There are reports of national Football Associations being unhappy with the pricing structure. Football Supporters Europe, an organisation that represents supporters, has called for the immediate cessation of ticket selling to examine how it can be acceptable for supporters to be exploited so emphatically. Perhaps a strong collective response may force some change.

Call me a cynic, but nothing will change. Even if there is a slight climbdown, the trend is set in stone. They have taken our game and they are trying to sell it back to us at an eye-watering cost.

[TheBrownBottle]

I yearn for the days when the concerns re the US being given a WC despite having little real interest in the sport revolved around them wanting to split the game in quarters, have adverts during the match and introducing bigger goals so that there would be higher-scoring games.  It all seems so twee. 

[leffe186]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cd0krvpmpzlo
 

Absolutely done with all this.

[Doctor Zaius]

On 12/12/2025 at 10:10, leffe186 said:

Article from iNews on the pricing:

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

The 2026 World Cup begins in six months, and the financial reality of the tournament is finally starting to dawn on football supporters.

 

For all the myriad issues with Qatar, ticket prices were actually pretty reasonable. For all the myriad issues with Uefa, their pricing policy for the European Championship is roughly fair.

As you’ll find out, the same is not true for the upcoming World Cup…

The ticket prices are disgraceful, right?

That is the only obvious conclusion. This week, the Football Association announced prices for their friendly at Wembley: members of the England Supporters Travel Club (ESTC) will pay £25 to sit behind the goal. So far, so normal.

Also this week, the Croatian FA revealed the prices for the country’s matches at the World Cup, as determined by Fifa and the tournament organisers.

England have not released their own information yet, but prices are likely to be the same or higher. The Croatian “value” supporter tickets are $265 (£198) for the group game, the standard tickets are $500 (£374) and the premium are $700 (£523). For one group game.

It gets worse in the knockouts. The lowest category tickets for official Croatia supporters for the final (and England will be the same or higher) cost $4,185 (£3,125). A ticket in the same part of the ground as that Uruguay friendly in March (i.e. behind the goal at one end) will be $8,680 (£6,466), or roughly 259 times as much. Read that sentence again. This is a scandal.

Are there any other options?

Supporters do not have to take up the official tickets, but do if they want a guaranteed seat for each of England’s games. The other option is to try and get tickets on general sale for each match, as per the public. And there’s a chance that those prices could go lower than the initial price, if the demand is low.

There are three issues with that: 1) supporters would be sat in a neutral section, 2) if those tickets are sold out then you can’t go to the game at all, 3) England games are highly unlikely to go at a reduced price. It just means someone who has been to multiple England tournaments, in the official club, would miss out.

2. How long do fans have to save up?

This is the thing that should make you really angry. Not only are the ticket prices absolutely vast, but you also have to buy them in a job lot to guarantee being there.

You’re a member of the ESTC and you want to go to every game that England will play in North America. You are forced to buy tickets for all of the matches – eight including the final – at a rough cost of $5,000 (£3,725) even though you don’t know if England will be in them.

That includes both the final and the third-fourth place playoff, even though England can’t play in both.

And you have to pay for all of that up front, probably in February next year. At Uefa tournaments, money is taken round by round; not here. If England are eliminated before the final, supporters will get the remaining matches refunded. Will that include a handling fee? Probably.

And…this is just the tickets?

That’s an important point to make, yes. Accommodation prices are already inflated in World Cup cities, as are international and domestic flights. Public transport is non-existent in many areas of many host cities, so matchday travel may well require expensive taxis.

Once in the ground, food, drink and merchandise will be on sale at exorbitant prices and there will be limitations on what you can take in. Prices are likely to increase in cities away from the stadium because there is a captive audience.

One ESTC member The i Paper spoke to is simply not able to pay for the whole tournament and this would be the first competitive game that he has missed in years. He estimates that the cost for the tournament – tickets, accommodation, travel and living expenses – would be at least 15,000 for eight matches, assuming he got the “value” category tickets. He cannot afford that and he could not justify it even if he could.

We also priced up a 13-day trip for England’s group games alone, and the cheapest – including a two-day bus and staying in dorms – option was still north of £2,000.

Has the game finally gone?

Yessir. Watching your country play shouldn’t be the pursuit solely of the super-rich. Fifa shouldn’t charge prices on what they can to squeeze the most out of loyal supporters, but what is reasonable. This is so far beyond the pale that it has to cause a line in the sand.

There are reports of national Football Associations being unhappy with the pricing structure. Football Supporters Europe, an organisation that represents supporters, has called for the immediate cessation of ticket selling to examine how it can be acceptable for supporters to be exploited so emphatically. Perhaps a strong collective response may force some change.

Call me a cynic, but nothing will change. Even if there is a slight climbdown, the trend is set in stone. They have taken our game and they are trying to sell it back to us at an eye-watering cost.

 

 

 

Yanks gonna yank

[LaurentRobert]

Fuck this tournament. Atmosphere will be better in a packed pub at home considering only tech bros will be able to afford tickets

[Vinny Green Balls]

This will be the first World Cup I'll not watch since 1978. Then I was boycotting consciousness as a toddler.

[Moose]

[LaurentRobert]

This group stage in the new format is going to be a dystopian bloated bore fest. 71 games of little to no jeopardy, no group of death, and massive mismatches played in blazing heat with the compulsory 3 minute "quarter time" breaks to kill any sort of flow in the match (any momentum was likely already killed by a 5 minute VAR check by a coked up Peter Bankes in Miami to decide whether it was indeed a corner for Cape Verde or a goal kick for Saudi Arabia) 

 

Will I still watch? Of course, but it's fair to say that the first three weeks will lack any excitement, and it'll only become competitive once the knock outs begin, which is a shame because the old format meant that the tournament was engaging from day 1 as it felt that every game was crucial.

 

FIFA is really destroying football, and this is the first time I've ever considered sacking the whole thing off out of pure disgust towards that corrupt organisation. 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 20, 2025 by LaurentRobert

[MagMal]

This is going to be the worst world cup in history and to be honest I think it is funny as fuck, everyone should just tell FIFA to do one and when the cameras pan around the empty Budweiser MAGA Dome I won't be able to stop laughing.

Unfortunately rather than been the catalyst for change FIFA will probably make out the whole thing has been a success.

[cubaricho]

Too many teams is going to make this the worst WC not America. 
 

(although we will get blamed)

 

 

Edited December 20, 2025 by cubaricho

[Turnbull2000]

Anyone who goes is supporting a fascist US regime.

[toontownman]

50 minutes ago, Turnbull2000 said:

Anyone who goes is supporting a fascist US regime.

Come to the Canada and Mexico games! Oh. You cant get tickets unless you want to sell your worldly belongings.

[El Prontonise]

On 20/12/2025 at 01:40, Vinny Green Balls said:

This will be the first World Cup I'll not watch since 1978. Then I was boycotting consciousness as a toddler.

 

[La Parka]

Boycoutt