I, like many people reading this, was jumping for joy when Kenny McLean’s half-way line strike put it beyond doubt that Scotland were heading to their first World Cup since 1998, and immediately my thoughts turned to travelling to North America for the big event.
Getting tickets for any match being played on the other side of the planet comes with many difficulties, but next year things have gotten a whole lot harder.
With regular fans only receiving 40% of the stadium’s capacity split evenly between the two teams, playing in some of the smaller stadiums hosting tournaments that would mean only around 8,000 members of the tartan army will be able to attend the game, unless they shell out around £1,500 for a hospitality package.
Not only are the number of tickets available getting smaller but the price of the tickets seem to be getting much higher.
If you look at the 2022 tournament in Qatar, the cheapest general admission ticket for a group-stage game was $11 (£8.42), at next year’s tournament for the same stage the cheapest ticket is believed to be $60 (£44) as official ticket prices have not yet been released.
FIFA immediately received backlash for the hike in ticket prices with fans immediately adding up the cost to follow their teams from game one until the final itself.
Thomas Concannon the head of the Football Supporters Association in England said: “If fans are successful in obtaining a category four ticket from the first game to the last, that could set them back $3,180 (£2,363) at least. That is more than double what Qatar cost.”
If you fancy just trying your luck at getting a ticket just for the showpiece event (who knows, Scotland might be there) the cheapest ticket is looking to be priced at $2,030 (£1,510).
Add that to travel and accommodation costs it seems FIFA president Gianni Infantino is looking to make sure only those who can truly afford can get. With his “the world will be welcome” comments looking a little stale.
Then if you cast your mind back to the massive comeback tour of Oasis, you’ll remember the scrutiny Ticketmaster came under for their ‘dynamic ticketing system,’ well that seems to be returning for the 2026 World Cup, even if it is something that’s been normalised over in the States.
Scott Friedman, from the Ticket Talk Network in the USA said: “Dynamic pricing has really been a thing here for more than a decade. For Fifa, it’s supply and demand, they are trying to maximise their revenue.”
There’s also an advantage for Americans who wish to take in the action due to their country hosting the tournament.
Friedman continued: “The system gives an advantage to American citizens who can maybe buy a resale ticket for a game which has less demand at much less than face value 48 hours before the match. People can’t really travel from overseas to do that. The system is not fair for the rest of the world and could definitely price out people from other countries.”
If you plan, like myself, to travel to the World Cup in June 2026, this is your warning that the hunt for tickets really does start now if you want to secure your seat to watch Scotland play their first World Cup games in 28 years.
