I am planning on heading to Mexico/Canada/US next year.
I've not done a World Cup before. Any advice on tickets/accommodation etc would be great. Very much aware of the difficulties tourists are facing travelling to the United States at the moment and I'm not concerned by that.
Thanks in advance
I've been to two. South Africa in 2010 we organised late so just went with the green and gold army, tickets came with the tour package. Brazil I organised with two other mates, we made it a 2 month trip through South America.
For tickets, you go into a ballot. There are a few types of ballots, some being general and some being supporter based. Basically sign up at fifa as an Australian supporter and they allocate x % of tickets to Aus games to Australian supporters and you just hope you get tickets during one of the release windows. They also allocate a % to locals, and a % to the general public. They have stages where they release tickets, so first stage might be 5,000 tickets, if you don't get allocated you roll into the next phase a few months later and so on until all tickets are sold.
Things might have changed since 2014 but that was the general process. For accommodation, we just put together some possible locations based on potential draw and started researching the various cities. 2026 should be easier as they are all big cities. Cuiaba in Brazil was ****ed, zero infrastructure or hotels. We got lucky, I posted on some message board and got contacted by a football academy who opened up their dorms to supporters and turned it into an airbnb for a month. Had a pool, 4 bunk beds per room and a husband and wife did all the catering, their kid was in the academy. Only spent 2 nights there, but met some awesome people there that I still keep in touch with
Time again to read through the MFKS World Cup diary below.......
Only one bloke on this foz constantly makes me laugh Plague and it ain't you - MFKS
What difficulties?Originally Posted by Premy
Tickets are the only thing that will be difficult. Travelling in America is pretty easy (but it is a big country).
Sort your tix first then go from there. If decent flight deals pop up book em now into LA and you can connect from there once the games are announced.
Or if you've got the cash just go with a tour group to save the hassle. I'd advise against it though those groups are generally centred around entitled old people who complain about everything or young people who know nothing about anything and smell funny.
90% of your travelling stories come from the chaos associated with it. Embrace it and have fun.
Thanks.
This is exactly what I was after. I've already signed up to FIFA but having the ballot explained is what I was looking for. Just hoping Australia's group lines up with the cites we prefer to visit.
Guided tour groups aren't really what we want to experience. Much prefer to get lost following our nose.
Tourist are having visas cancelled if you travel without return fights or accommodation booked. Electronic devices being seized and searched, leading to visas being cancelled. It's not my first rodeo travelling so I'm not concerned about the issues.
Last edited by Premy; 04-06-2025 at 12:21 PM.
Yeah you'll be sweet then.
Memory may be hazy still but swear FIFA had an official secondary ticket market for all the people the won the ballot but couldn't end up going.
Yeh, biggest issue will be getting tickets. Imagine the general American population will be pretty keen to get to games too.
For all their issue atm, US is still a lot more palatable for most people than a trip to Qatar so think there will be a larger fan base.
I foresee travelling around may be a bit pricey, as there’s not too many other options than flying.
I’d be booking accommodation as soon as the locations are announced. Free cancellation is your friend. Just book something! You may not have too many issues in the US as I imagine they have pretty good infrastructure and array of hotels etc.
Try and get to some other games too. Sweden vs Germany in Russia was one of my favourite games.
Avoid the FIFA accommodation unless you really can’t find anything. It’s inflated, not discounted.
Again, 2026 shouldn’t see too many accommodation issues.
Russia was a bit of a nightmare in some places - one hotel we stayed at was basically a Russian ladies house - and not the Anna Kournikova type of Russian lady. But there wasn’t many other options.
Heard a few horror stories of people booking airbnbs when the draw came out, then the hosts realised they could charge a bit more than $50 a night, cancelled the booking and relisted for $1000 a night.
Agree on getting to some other games, seeing Italy lose 3-2 to Slovakia in 2010 in person was a highlight
Book your tickets Premy! Looking good!
Hopefully FIFA keep expanding the field so we can keep qualifying because our level has gone so far backwards in the last 20 years yet we keep getting an invite which is nice.
Thanks Sepp.
Can't believe we get to watch some football AND set fire to Tesla's all in the same trip.
See you all stateside.
Correct. Pity the triggered Woke mods on here banned him for having an opinion.
Far from it.
The good member is already back on here under one of his many multis (including that plague character...we can tell its him).
Plus, the big man loves nothing more than hearing people long for his glorious return. Even his mate jesus came back after 3 days, members just taking the piss now.
# Free the member
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