A Brief Reflection
This edition marks 1 full year of newsletter alerts (on this platform) to people all over the world to summarize World Cup content and provide assistance on how to attend the tournament. 🥳
This project of helping others travel to the World Cup started with an idea in 2010 that (very) slowly took form in 2014 and sparked the launch of theworldcupguide.com in 2017 as a centralized guide for breaking down tickets, tournament specifics and costs from a fan’s perspective.
Since then, we’ve created social media accounts in X, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok and participated in podcasts and been featured in articles. Never could have imagined this evolution and excited to see where this takes us in years to come!
By far, the most rewarding part of this journey has been connecting with so many of the people that read these posts and browse the site. And with that - thank you - and wishing you luck with your plans as 2026 and 2027 tournaments approach.
And now, on we go to March 2025 edition….
March 2025 World Cup Digest
This edition covers:
September 2025 Rumored for 2026 Ticket Sales
We’ve had our best guess on the site for years that the 2026 World Cup tickets sales would go on sale for the general public between August and October 2025. Well, September is right in the middle of that.
The report regarding 2026 Ticket Sales comes from ClaroSports and while it’s tough to be 100% certain on anything without FIFA releasing details, it’s the first prediction that makes sense.
Of course, securing tickets, the application process, and price could all change but you may want to read through our details on:
2026 General Tickets (which contains suggestions from the 2018 Bid Committee on pricing)
USA Travel Infrastructure Questioned
The questioning of a host country’s preparedness for a World Cup is nothing new.
There’s already been concerns about visas (more on that below) and now we’re seeing articles on the travel infrastructure in the US not being ready for 2026 or the 2028 Olympics. The biggest knocks to date have been about the lack of public transit infrastructure to get around, not just domestically, but also within each city limits.
Here’s the latest summary of concerns about the overall infrastructure
40M visitors projected for major events, including 6M for the World Cup alone.
Critical Challenges:
Some countries face 700-day visa wait times, risking $19B in lost spending.
By 2028, peak travel days could occur 100 times a year.
Aging security systems and customs inefficiencies could slow entry.
Proposed Solutions include White House-led task force, expedited visas, and biometric security upgrades.
Travel leaders stress that without immediate reforms, the U.S. risks damaging its reputation and missing a major economic opportunity.
Sources:
Update: World Cup Fan ID / Visas
While there’s the legit concern about fans being able to secure the necessary documentation to enter the host countries, there was always hope that a FIFA Fan ID or World Cup visa would be a method to grant expedited access to fans with tickets. These types of visas granted fans with official tickets an expedited (and free) entry into the host country in the past. Per On Location’s FAQ site, it appears this will not be the case for 2026.
Cruise Ships for Lodging in Vancouver?
This article from CBC claims Vancouver will have a hotel shortage and mentions that “floating hotels” are once again being considered! Will that happen, unsure but Vancouver has a reputation already for being expensive (while also one of the most desirable cities in the world) so those planning to travel there, be prepared (and rewarded with its beauty). Personally, Vancouver was top of the list for visiting but likely trading that for one, if not all 3, Mexican host cities.
Will cruise ships actually be utilized? Well, it is possible but a solution we didn’t anticipate for 2026. For those that don’t know, in Qatar (2022) cruise ships from MSC were utilized for the month-long tournament.
In fact, this is where I stayed for the majority of my time. Honestly, it wasn’t that bad and the tournament did a decent job of running public transit from the port to the subway station.
Europe Starts its 2026 Qualification Campaign
You read that right, the qualification campaign to find out what teams are qualifying for Europe (16 spots) starts during this month’s international window.
The draw for the campaign occurred in December. The rest of the world picks up where they left off and a brief summary of it all is below:
South America, started Sept 2023 (FIFA Table)
Asia, started Oct 2023 (FIFA Table)
Africa, started Nov 2023 (FIFA Table)
North & Central America, started March 2024 (FIFA Table)
Oceania, started Sept 2024 (FIFA Table)
Europe, starts this month!
FIFA Confirms Halftime Show + Times Square Takeover
FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, officially confirmed the halftime show for the World Cup Final in 2026 in a meeting with the Commercial & Media Partners Convention in Dallas this week. He also dropped a few other comments that were interesting:
The halftime show will feature multiple artists with Chris Martin and Phil Harvey of Coldplay to finalize the list of artists.
FIFA will takeover Times Square in NYC on the final weekend of the World Cup.
View his instagram post below for his exact comments:
Answering Reader Questions
In the last month, there was a theme in questions submitted so I thought I’d quickly address those publicly. If there’s interest in doing this each month, you can hit respond directly from your inbox to send a message to submit a question. I’m summarizing the topics here:
Are 2026 Hospitality Tickets for sale to the general public yet?
As this gets published, no. However, this may happen very soon. Remember, there is currently not a single match purchase option and fans need to purchase at least a 4-match package.
Have Ticket Prices Been Released Already?
There’s a few videos on the socials floating around claiming that 2026 ticket prices have been leaked. I looked at the videos, the sources they’re quoting (GQ Mexico) and then the documentation from the 2018 Bid Committee proposal about ticket prices. It seems this sources is merely quoting the recommendation from the 2018 Bid Committee Proposal.
Summary: No, these have not been leaked or released yet.
Are there any jobs available for World Cup 2026?
Yes. I’ll continue to post links for at least the jobs that FIFA and On Location are hiring for and any others that I come across. The positions really do update and some are even remote:
On Location Jobs (Hospitality Vendor)
Dallas posted on instagram of the positions they’re hiring for as well.
If you’re looking for Volunteer Opportunities, check out our last edition.
Bonus Links
Canada Host Cities Question FIFA’s Healthcare Request
In a report from CBC’s Tara De Boer, FIFA has requested pre-arranged hospital access for athletes and VIPs during the 2026 Men's World Cup in Toronto and Vancouver. The request includes designated hospitals, specialist care, and rapid emergency treatment. However, Canadian officials stress that urgent care is based on medical need, not VIP status. In 2015 for the Women’s World Cup, medical care was handled privately at venues without relying on public hospitals.
Saudi Arabia Speaks to Piers Morgan About Alcohol at 2034
In this LinkedIn video post from Mohammed H. Al Qahtani (CEO of Saudi Arabian Holding Co.), we see Saudi Sports Minister, Prince Abdulaziz, discuss the country’s position on 2034 and alcohol with Piers Morgan. A longer interview between the two can also be found here.
FIFA Hospitality - Now a $1,000 Deposit
The FIFA Innovation Programme
Heads up to any innovators out there….this program invites companies to pitch new technologies and solutions for football, with selected ideas getting tested and developed in collaboration with FIFA to address specific challenges in the game. Ten priority areas have been set for the current cycle.
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