The 2026 World Cup is just a few months away, and as the tournament draws nearer, millions of fans will start to become excited about the games. For fans of the United States Men’s National Team, it should
be a celebration of the team and American soccer as the world sets its eyes on our shores.
However, one thing has been holding fans back from fully embracing the tournament arriving in the United States: ticket prices. Ever since the first tickets went on sale in early October, the extreme sticker shock that was the prices for matches to watch the USMNT and other teams at the 2026 World Cup have been the direct source of much frustration and anger among fans. Dynamic pricing and small ticket lottery windows where seemingly few people have had access to the expected 6.5 million tickets has only created more despair as some fans have realized they have been priced out of seeing their team compete at a home World Cup.
“The pricing is obscene!” Michael Dovellos, an American Outlaws member from Dyer, Indiana said when asked about the pricing of tickets. “I’m excited that the World Cup will be in our backyard. However, the pricing seems extremely counterproductive for the vast majority of fans and I fear that passionate fans will not be able to attend.” Despite the high prices, Dovellos is hoping to attend every USMNT match during the tournament.
Dovellos’ thoughts are echoed by many supporters from the three main supporter groups for the USMNT – the American Outlaws, Sammers SC, and Barra 76 – in that ticket prices have made fans less excited about the World Cup being local. Marcel Hillie, a longtime U.S. fan from Potomac. Maryland, is not planning on attending any matches due to the high costs and says the decision by FIFA to use dynamic pricing (or “variable” pricing) instead of fixed ticket prices has made it where many fans will not be able to go.
“FIFA’s ticket pricing [is] making it financially impossible for most regular supporters to attend matches,” Hillie remarked. When asked what he would do if he had the ability to change anything about the lead-up to the World Cup, he quickly said “Eliminate dynamic pricing…give opportunities for people who have supported US Soccer over the past 4-8 years and past World Cups to get affordable tickets.”
Despite the ticket prices fading fan excitement, many diehards still possess some excitement. Matt Dooyema, a U.S. Soccer fan from Waite Park, Minnesota, said that while he’s not as excited about the World Cup as he was, he’s still planning on going to a match in Kansas City. “Not having to get up early or stay up late to watch [World Cup matches] is a plus,” Dooyema said. Jimmy T. from Pittsburgh says he has not yet acquired tickets and he still hopes to attend a few U.S. matches. However, “pricing and availability of tickets may not allow it.”
For fans who have made the decision to not go to World Cup matches, they may take advantage of other options to watch the World Cup with more affordability. Josh Kail, an American Outlaws member living in Philadelphia, is not attending World Cup matches due to the high costs despite Lincoln Financial Field hosting six matches. He said he would “possibly” attend the fan festival that will be set up in the city but will otherwise watch the tournament on TV. Others said that watch parties will be how they consume the tournament, choosing to watch the U.S. matches with friends and fellow supporters who aren’t making the trip out west for the group stage.
Governmental overreach has also suppressed excitement for the tournament. The real concern that fans coming from abroad may not be able to enter the United States to support their team is one that fans hope FIFA will step in and resolve quickly. “Some of the best experience at the last World Cup I attended was the fans gathering together and interacting with each other in the fan spaces and town centers,” Michael Dovellos exclaimed. Jimmy T. just wanted the focus of the tournament to be on “[the] actual games, not the s***show that will probably overshadow the [competition].”
There’s still time for FIFA to do what they can to make the World Cup affordable for all fans, whether they are supporters who follow their team around to dozens of matches or casuals looking to experience their first taste of a World Cup. There’s also time to make the tournament’s success revolve around the moments on the field and the fan-generated community that truly make a World Cup special instead of success being counted in dollars, pesos, euros and Swiss francs. That time is running short. There will be ways for all fans to enjoy the World Cup when it begins in June. However, that enjoyment may not be in the stadiums as fans are priced out of the biggest sporting event ever.
