FIFA World Cup 2026

[premium1981]

Originally Posted by mfw13

Biggest question for you to consider is budget.....closest stadiums to you are probably DC and Atlanta, and they'll have some decent matchups which should have good atmospheres.

Morocco-Haiti in Atlanta should have good atmosphere, since there are a lot of Haitians in the US.

Netherlands-Japan in DC will be terrific, as both countries have large groups of fans that travel to international tournaments.

The Japan-UEFA B match in DC should also be pretty good.

And if you're willing to travel up to Boston, the Haiti-Scotland match should be great atmosphere-wise.

Money aside, just speaking of the experience, which one of these would you rate the highest? Taking into account where they will be played and who is playing?

[Crosby 87]

Originally Posted by premium1981

Money aside, just speaking of the experience, which one of these would you rate the highest? Taking into account where they will be played and who is playing?

Of those listed above I'd go see a game with the Dutch playing

[mfw13]

Originally Posted by premium1981

Money aside, just speaking of the experience, which one of these would you rate the highest? Taking into account where they will be played and who is playing?

I would say Netherlands-Japan and Scotland-Haiti.

The Dutch and the Scots have terrific groups of fans who always "travel well".

Japan (and also South Korea) have well-organized supporter groups that provide great atmosphere at matches.

Haiti hasn't qualified for the World Cup in 40+ years and has a huge diaspora in the US.

[Canesfan2011]

Originally Posted by premium1981

Money aside, just speaking of the experience, which one of these would you rate the highest? Taking into account where they will be played and who is playing?

If you are putting money aside the 2 best matches in the group stage atmosphere wise will be either France V. Netherlands in Boston or Colombia V. Portugal in Miami

France V. Netherlands should be a great game with 2 of the best goal scorers in the tournament

Colombia V. Portugal will be absolute chaos and insanity with both teams having huge passionate fan bases and featuring one of the best players of all time playing in his last world cup

[mfw13]

Originally Posted by Canesfan2011

If you are putting money aside the 2 best matches in the group stage atmosphere wise will be either France V. Netherlands in Boston or Colombia V. Portugal in Miami

France V. Netherlands should be a great game with 2 of the best goal scorers in the tournament

Colombia V. Portugal will be absolute chaos and insanity with both teams having huge passionate fan bases and featuring one of the best players of all time playing in his last world cup

And tickets for those matches are priced accordingly......

[Crosby 87]

Originally Posted by mfw13

And tickets for those matches are priced accordingly......

"Priced accordingly "

A group stage game ticket at the very top will set you back 1,701.08 per seat. That's face value.

Face value pricing for Colombia vs Portugal ranges from $1701 to 57,500/ticket per FIFA's website.

[Canesfan2011]

Originally Posted by Crosby 87

"Priced accordingly "

A group stage game ticket at the very top will set you back 1,701.08 per seat. That's face value.

Face value pricing for Colombia vs Portugal ranges from $1701 to 57,500/ticket per FIFA's website.

Where are you getting your prices from, those sound like reseller prices not face value.
I have tier 1 tickets for both of those games that I bought at face value during one of the FIFA ticket draws and did not pay anywhere near that price.

[Crosby 87]

Originally Posted by Canesfan2011

Where are you getting your prices from, those sound like reseller prices not face value.
I have tier 1 tickets for both of those games that I bought at face value during one of the FIFA ticket draws and did not pay anywhere near that price.

FIFA is using a dynamic pricing model for this world cup. The pricing has risen after each round of lottery i have noticed. I got priced out pretty early for the US matches as documented earlier in thread. I'm sure the uber expensive tickets come with some perks but I got it from FIFA's own website

[premium1981]

I'm hearing the Netherlands by multiple people. Maybe that should be our target team. We did a Christmas market river boat cruise in December that ended in Amsterdam. The Holland region was remarkable and we talked about how it was one of the favorite places we have been. Thank you all for the tips. Still open to anything more if anyone has more advice. I will update if we pull the trigger on some tickets.

[YayNJ]

The Dutch?

They are okay, it's very.... 'safe' though. If you want a proper rowdy party that's still friendly get yourself to a Scotland game.

[cholodolo]

Originally Posted by mfw13

Biggest question for you to consider is budget.....closest stadiums to you are probably DC and Atlanta, and they'll have some decent matchups which should have good atmospheres.

Morocco-Haiti in Atlanta should have good atmosphere, since there are a lot of Haitians in the US.

Netherlands-Japan in DC will be terrific, as both countries have large groups of fans that travel to international tournaments.

The Japan-UEFA B match in DC should also be pretty good.

And if you're willing to travel up to Boston, the Haiti-Scotland match should be great atmosphere-wise.

Bro, what are you looking at?

Netherlands-Japan is in Arlington, Texas. Same with Japan against a Mid-European playoff team.

DC isn't even a host city

Originally Posted by premium1981

Money aside, just speaking of the experience, which one of these would you rate the highest? Taking into account where they will be played and who is playing?

If you can get Japan-Netherlands, easily the best matchup in terms of quality. But that game is in Arlington, Texas, not DC. Whether or not the fans travel in their usual droves is TBD.

This World Cup is expanded and as a result many teams of average to below average quality qualified. The size of the US is another factor to consider. Previous WCs have been held in smaller countries where renting a car or train travel was viable.

Morocco-Haiti is terrible. Do not spend WC prices seeing them.

[YayNJ]

Originally Posted by cholodolo

Morocco-Haiti is terrible. Do not spend WC prices seeing them.

[cholodolo]

Originally Posted by YayNJ

If you disagree, state your case.

Otherwise, it is ridiculous to recommend someone who doesn't follow footy attend that match.

Do you have your tickets for Jordan-Algeria yet?

[YayNJ]

And you wonder why nobody takes Americans seriously when it comes to football.

Morocco - Haiti will be a banger if it's pre-match atmosphere you're after and a bit of a party, there is *NOTHING* like Morocco fans in the whole of Africa. They are organised like the Germans, but have a distinct African twist.

I've probably been to over 1000 games in my life since the 1980's on all continents other than Antarctica, but I'm always open to learning something new about attending games. Fill me in, start with all the Morocco games you've been to bud.

[Crosby 87]

Premium 1981 you're going to have to consider the cost of lodging also. The price gouging is in full swing. A Hampton inn for example is going to run you $600/night approx ballpark.

[Bosoxfan5990]

Originally Posted by Crosby 87

Premium 1981 you're going to have to consider the cost of lodging also. The price gouging is in full swing. A Hampton inn for example is going to run you $600/night approx ballpark.

I'm considering subletting my apartment 15 minutes from Gillette for $10K for the month of June.

[Crosby 87]

Originally Posted by Bosoxfan5990

I'm considering subletting my apartment 15 minutes from Gillette for $10K for the month of June.

Will it be a direct route though

[mfw13]

Originally Posted by cholodolo

Bro, what are you looking at?

Netherlands-Japan is in Arlington, Texas. Same with Japan against a Mid-European playoff team.

DC isn't even a host city

Got my Arlington's mixed up

My bad...

Arlington, VA vs Arlington, TX....

Wish they'd just use Dallas instead of Arlington, TX....and Boston instead of Foxboro....and San Francisco instead of Santa Clara....and NYC instead of East Rutherford....and LA instead of Inglewood.

[premium1981]

Originally Posted by Crosby 87

Premium 1981 you're going to have to consider the cost of lodging also. The price gouging is in full swing. A Hampton inn for example is going to run you $600/night approx ballpark.

I'm in a pretty good place when it comes to lodging. I have so much spend through my business every year that I can pretty much stay at any Hyatt or Hilton property covered by points. Miles and points have made travel very easy over the last couple of years. So it allows me to spend a little more on the actual experience of whatever we are choosing to do. That's crazy though. $600 for a Hampton Inn should be illegal.

[cholodolo]

Originally Posted by YayNJ

And you wonder why nobody takes Americans seriously when it comes to football.

Morocco - Haiti will be a banger if it's pre-match atmosphere you're after and a bit of a party, there is *NOTHING* like Morocco fans in the whole of Africa. They are organised like the Germans, but have a distinct African twist.

I've probably been to over 1000 games in my life since the 1980's on all continents other than Antarctica, but I'm always open to learning something new about attending games. Fill me in, start with all the Morocco games you've been to bud.

You seem to be (perhaps intentionally) misunderstanding my point -- this isn't going to be like the other World Cups. The question was from someone who doesn't follow footy closely. Morocco-Haiti in the 3rd group game is not that.

This was the question:

Money aside, just speaking of the experience, which one of these would you rate the highest? Taking into account where they will be played and who is playing?

But I'll humor you:

How many Moroccans do you estimate will travel to Atlanta? Maybe 5-10,000 at most? How many Haitians do you think will be there? The stadium holds 70,000+ -- nobody is questioning that Moroccan fans under the right conditions can create an atmosphere. Will they be able to overcome all of the costs and logistical challenges associated with this World Cup?

Now, onto Haiti -- a nation that was unable to play a home qualifying match due to political chaos. How many of their matches have you seen? In CONCACAF we see them every now and then. Considering the economic realities of the Haitian diaspora...how many do you anticipate will attend at current prices?

So, in conclusion, Morocco-Haiti as the group finale is not a needle mover.

[CiaranGQ]

The key point in all of this is that, if you want a great experience / atmosphere at the World Cup, then it is often not through the established leading footballing nations.


For example, Spain and Italy [IF Italy qualify] will travel in exceptionally low numbers. They don’t have the culture of travelling away to support their national teams in the same way as many northern and mid / Eastern European teams do [and, yes, I appreciate Italy will have many Italian-Americans supporting them IF they qualify but that’s not quite the same].


I was at the World Cup in 1998 and, from recollection, some of the best atmospheres I experienced were from supporters of Chile and South Korea. I was at Belgium vs South Korea and South Korea must have had 10,000+ that day and created a great atmosphere, notwithstanding they already knew they would be unable to qualify for the knock-out rounds at the start of the match. That said, the next day I was at Romania vs Tunisia and there must have been 30,000+ Tunisians there and I don’t recall the atmosphere being great.


Scotland v Haiti is guaranteed to be great atmosphere-wise, given the passion of the Scottish travelling fans and their love for a party. This is exacerbated by it being their first World Cup match in almost 3 decades, after previously qualifying for every World Cup since 1974 with the exception of USA 1994. It also has potential makings of an upset if you know Scottish World Cup history with their ability to self-destruct against the perceived weakest team in their group.


Bit of a ramble but, in summary, experience / atmosphere at the World Cup is often not related to the strength of the teams. In fact, it can be the opposite given the World Cup appearance invariably means more to those nations that cannot take qualification for granted.

[YayNJ]

^ this dude gets it (like always)

[CiaranGQ]

Originally Posted by YayNJ

^ this dude gets it (like always)

By the way, in answer to your question to another poster as to how often you have seen Morocco play … I’ve seen Morocco play once.

It was in spring 1986 at Windsor Park, Belfast. It was a pre Mexico 1986 World Cup ‘friendly’ between two of the nations that had qualified for the World Cup.

Northern Ireland won 2-1 with a late winner. These were the days when friendly matches still had some meaning.

I was 10 at the time and an important game for me as so excited to see Northern Ireland in Mexico ‘86. I had attended our 1-1 friendly match against a star-studded and still under-rated Denmark team the month or so before.

It has become more important over the years given passage of time and that Northern Ireland may not again qualify for the World Cup in my lifetime. In fact, even if we do, I’m not sure how important it is given the tournament’s dilution.

Sad to say but the last Northern Ireland game I attended was our World Cup play-off final defeat second leg to Switzerland in Basel 2017. I attended all games that campaign. Just needed to take a break after the disappointment and the disappointment continued.

I still love Inter and go to Inter regularly. I travel to Milano next Friday for Saturday’s Derby d’Italia. Will be my 11th home Inter game of the season.

PS - that year I saw Morocco … months later, in Mexico, they played England. I remember watching it on TV late on a Friday night. Terrible game for England as Bryan Robson got injured [again] and Ray Wilkins got sent off. 0-0 on back of the first game loss …. all changed for England in final group game vs Poland …. Ultimately led to ‘Hand of God’ moment in the tournament

[yiguiri2002]

I don't think it's rocket science but if you are looking for a good environment, go to matches where a team is making their World Cup debut or hasn't made it in forever.

[YayNJ]

I still can’t wrap my head around Josh Sargent throwing a whole season of his career in the trash in a World Cup year on home soil. What a dunce.