World Cup travel costs soar as ticket prices spark fan backlash

A seat in the stands was only the first expense. For England and Scotland supporters planning for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the real shock came from the full travel bill, where ticket prices, hotel scarcity and inflated internal transport pushed a dream trip into the range of a premium holiday.

The tournament runs from 11 June to 19 July 2026 and will be staged across the United States, Mexico and Canada. England will play Croatia in Dallas on 17 June, Ghana in Boston on 23 June and Panama in New York on 27 June. Scotland’s first men’s World Cup in 28 years will take Steve Clarke’s side to Boston twice, against Haiti and Morocco, before a final group match against Brazil in Miami. England Supporters Travel Club and Scotland Supporters Club members received their allocations and prices in December 2025, with FIFA basing each team’s share on 8% of a stadium’s saleable capacity.

Those allocations were tight and expensive. The cheapest original Scotland ticket was $180, or about £134, for the Haiti match, while England’s cheapest original allocation ticket for Croatia was $198, or about £164. Later group games for both sets of supporters were priced from about £164 to £198, but the biggest eye-opener sat much further down the bracket: final tickets in the team allocations were set at £3,129 to £6,489. After backlash, FIFA added a $60, or £45, tier, but that covered only about 10% of each federation’s allocation and less than 1% of overall stadium capacity.

The backlash was immediate. The Football Supporters’ Association called the pricing scandalous and urged the FA to challenge FIFA, while Gianni Infantino defended the system by arguing that some seats were expensive but others were affordable. That split, however, did little to change the practical problem for ordinary fans: the cheap seats were too scarce to shape the market.

BBC Sport’s costing exercise showed how quickly the numbers mount. An England supporter trying to follow the group stage on the cheapest late-booked trip would need about £6,500, or £13,000 for two. That figure assumed the lowest transport and accommodation options available, yet even then the single-traveller cost was pushed up because the hotel example used twin or double rooms. Add in one-way domestic travel inside the US, where Boston-to-Miami and New Jersey-area train fares have risen sharply, and the tournament starts to look accessible mainly to wealthier travelers.

For fans of England and Scotland, the message is plain. The World Cup is still being sold as a global celebration, but the prices on offer mean many ordinary supporters will be watching the most expensive moments from home.