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talkpoliticsIt's hard not to see the upcoming 2026 World Cup in the US, Canada, and Mexico less as a celebration of football and more as a case study in how global events drift away from ordinary people.
On paper, it's the biggest and most profitable tournament ever: 48 teams, top-tier infrastructure, a showcase of globalisation. In reality, it looks increasingly inaccessible, especially for European fans. Ticket prices alone tell the story: officially "affordable", but in practice driven up by dynamic pricing and resale markets to €400-700 even for group games, and far higher for knockout matches. That effectively turns stadiums into corporate spaces rather than places for real supporters.
Then comes logistics. Transatlantic flights are just the start: moving between host cities across a continent, with limited rail alternatives, means fans are locked into expensive domestic flights. Accommodation prices have surged to the point of absurdity, with hotels inflating rates by several hundred percent. A short trip for a single match can easily exceed €3,000.
What stands out to me is how systematically every layer is monetised. Getting to the stadium, something trivial in most European cities, becomes another cost trap, with overpriced transport, limited access, and infrastructure built around cars rather than people.
Beyond cost, there's a political dimension. Stricter US entry requirements, including scrutiny of digital and social media history, create a climate that feels more like surveillance than a sporting event. Add broader political tensions and visa uncertainty, and you have a real risk that even ticket holders may not make it in.
Taken together, this doesn't just look like an expensive tournament, it looks like a shift in what football represents. If attending a single match requires thousands of euros and navigating bureaucratic hurdles, the sport stops being a mass social experience and becomes an elite product.
And that is the real issue: not just high prices, but a broader trend where global events prioritise revenue, control and optics over accessibility and fan culture. The question isn't whether fans will be frustrated, it's whether this model is sustainable without hollowing out the very community that made football what it is.
On paper, it's the biggest and most profitable tournament ever: 48 teams, top-tier infrastructure, a showcase of globalisation. In reality, it looks increasingly inaccessible, especially for European fans. Ticket prices alone tell the story: officially "affordable", but in practice driven up by dynamic pricing and resale markets to €400-700 even for group games, and far higher for knockout matches. That effectively turns stadiums into corporate spaces rather than places for real supporters.
Then comes logistics. Transatlantic flights are just the start: moving between host cities across a continent, with limited rail alternatives, means fans are locked into expensive domestic flights. Accommodation prices have surged to the point of absurdity, with hotels inflating rates by several hundred percent. A short trip for a single match can easily exceed €3,000.
What stands out to me is how systematically every layer is monetised. Getting to the stadium, something trivial in most European cities, becomes another cost trap, with overpriced transport, limited access, and infrastructure built around cars rather than people.
Beyond cost, there's a political dimension. Stricter US entry requirements, including scrutiny of digital and social media history, create a climate that feels more like surveillance than a sporting event. Add broader political tensions and visa uncertainty, and you have a real risk that even ticket holders may not make it in.
Taken together, this doesn't just look like an expensive tournament, it looks like a shift in what football represents. If attending a single match requires thousands of euros and navigating bureaucratic hurdles, the sport stops being a mass social experience and becomes an elite product.
And that is the real issue: not just high prices, but a broader trend where global events prioritise revenue, control and optics over accessibility and fan culture. The question isn't whether fans will be frustrated, it's whether this model is sustainable without hollowing out the very community that made football what it is.
