👋 We’re back in your inbox with the monthly digest of World Cup content!

Don’t forget to check the core website, theworldcupguide.com for info on how tickets work, costs of attending previous World Cups and more! (Though, to be honest, this edition has some details not in the core site yet).

This edition covers:

If you’re interested in Hospitality Tickets, these are officially on sale to the general public.

You’ll want to visit the official site and then progress in building the package that makes the most sense for you. Many are already unavailable but more will be released in due time.

If you plan on attending 4+ matches, you can secure a prime seat with hospitality benefits for as low as $1,300 USD per match. I included an image below on how to navigate the various Hospitality Levels.

As reported previously, the first sales phase is reportedly to commence in September for general tickets.

Well, in late April, CEO of the Seattle FIFA World Cup 26 Local Organizing Committee, Peter Tomozawa spoke with Brighton Jones COO April Kyrkos about harnessing the power of the World’s Game to create positive community impact in 2026 and beyond (Brighton Jones words). Revealed in this video was a timeline for Seattle and in the “October to December” block, you could see “Ticket Sales”.

This still falls within our original estimate found on our site of August to October 2025 so however this plays out, happy to have predicted the timeframe properly. You can watch the entire video which is actually quite informative and fun to hear what this host city plans on doing over the next 400+ days. If you want to find this slide and the comments around it, you should fast forward to the 30:00 mark.

For all those that were subscribed by April 3rd, you received an ad-hoc message from me informing you about the ticket bundles for the 2026 World Cup with purchases of the 2025 Club World Cup tickets. I also published a reel via instagram.

The window to purchase these specific packages expired on April 28th; however, the FIFA Collect site has continuously released bundles with a “Right to Buy” (RTB) for 2026 Tickets.

What’s my take - are these bundles worth it? (I received numerous messages regarding this topic):

If you already plan to attend the 2025 Club World Cup or wouldn’t mind attending, then the incentive is likely worth it; especially those packages that were visiting 2 matches at one stadium and receiving a RTB for that same stadium in 2026.

It doesn’t bode well for FIFA that these bundles are being released as previously reported news of 2025 Club World Cup struggling to sell tickets seems to be true; aside from the top teams. Personally, I am happy to see it. There’s no reason these tickets needed to be priced so high for a tournament that has never happened previously. Additionally, if matches sold out for 2025, it would suggest to FIFA to offer an even more aggressive ticket pricing strategy for 2026.

Keep checking FIFA’s 2025 ticketing site for more info if you’re interested in this summer’s Club World Cup.

That’s right, more ticket news!

American Airlines was announced as an official partner of FIFA and the World Cup and in combination with Qatar Airways, announced a competition to win tickets to the 2026 Final in NY/NJ.

The World Cup Draw is only 7 months away and that brings an elevated sense of excitement. Why? The draw is when the matchups are revealed…that is, we all learn who plays who, where and when.

The Draw also typically begins the second phase of ticket sales - and this is where ticket purchasing can become frustrating as well with hours long queues, sold out tickets, etc. Remember, the word “typically” is used because the comments are based on previous tournaments and FIFA can always change the process.

The Draw itself is also a spectacle for FIFA. They have celebrities, former players and personalities all drawing ping pong balls out of a bowl and it takes way longer than it should. That said, the location has not been decided. I read that it definitely will not be a host city and that Las Vegas is preferred with others suggesting it could even take place in Washington D.C.

My favorite quote I saw was from New York Times with “It is also the preference of several host city executives, who are hoping to entertain prospective commercial partners in Sin City before and after the draw.”

Did everyone see the 16 posters revealed by the host cities for the 2026 World Cup? If you haven’t, go have a look. Many don’t care; others will have strong opinions.

It was honestly refreshing to see some new marketing content for the World Cup as the reality sets in that another tournament is upon us.

I also find it fairly interesting that opinions regarding the posters are so varying. Art, right? When I think of a World Cup poster, I try to imagine what will be timeless and synonymous with the tournament and for 2026, identifiable to the host city.

Anyone interested in reviewing and/or purchasing can find each individual link from FIFA’s official poster site here.

My Top 3:

My 3 Most Disappointing:

It’s hard for me to critique when the best I could do personally is draw a stick figure waving a flag, kicking a ball that would look more like a rhombus than sphere.

What are your thoughts?

What’s this now? We haven’t even tested the 48 team World Cup and we’re already clamoring for 64 teams?

Ok, this isn’t all that surprising given the expansion for 2026 and unbalanced schedule. CONMEBOL (South America) proposed a 64 team World Cup as part of its celebration of the centenario (100 year anniversary of the first ever World Cup; Uruguay were hosts & champions in 1930). At least logistically there would be equal opportunity for 2nd place teams as it would allow for 16 groups of 4 where every group has its 1st and 2nd place team advance; whereas 2026 will see only 8 of the 12 3rd place teams advance. Coincidentally, it would also likely mean all 10 nations in South America qualify. 🤔

Shockingly, the president of CONCACAF, a region that would benefit from an expansion, opposed it publicly & UEFA (Europe) and AFC (Asia) also disapproved. Saudi Arabia did mention that if the expansion does occur, then they will be ready to embrace it as hosts in 2034.

It is possible this topic will be discussed on May 15th (yes - in 1 week), at FIFA’s 75th congress in Paraguay.

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:

Personal comment:

If you made it this far, I will be in London & Liverpool this weekend as I am fortunate to have an opportunity to attend Fulham vs Everton and then Liverpool vs Arsenal with a group. If anyone still reading has any insider tips/suggestions to enhance this experience, hit respond.

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