👋 A few days later than we prefer but 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!

This edition covers:

In September’s edition, we posted about a Reddit thread and increase curiosity about validity of 3rd party sites for tickets.

Well, FIFA recently issued a warning to fans and 3rd party sites about open market ticket reselling. Here’s a quick summary:

Keep in mind, FIFA uses a Resale Portal to help fans attend matches without the increased costs of secondhand supply. Read how Qatar 2022 Resale Portal worked here.

FIFA all like:

The website visitcalifornia.com recently published a basic but slightly useful article for fans heading to the state for the 2026 World Cup. It covers visa info, travel tips, and suggestions on where to stay and explore. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but it did remind me that 2025 is just around the corner, and soon it’ll be time to start watching for early flight deals across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.

I’ll mention this again through as time passes but if you’re keen on staying up to date for flight deals, including mistake fares and first class offers - the flight alert site, Going is 💯. I use Going to proactively receive notifications about where I can travel to from my home airport & have saved hundreds of dollars on a few flights. (Disclaimer: I also enjoy daydreaming about traveling on a moment’s notice to watch matches across the world for wherever the flash sale occurs).

Going is a great compliment to Google Flights as Going removes some of the burden of constantly having to be scanning for what’s available. Both of these sites are brilliant, especially if you have flexibility about where you fly into - as flexibility is key to saving the most money.

Can you believe we are about 18 months away from the start of 2026 World Cup?

With 2025 around the corner, I expect Host Cities to start ramping up their communication, plans and overall advertising.

This article from the Sports Business Journal highlights the current status and challenges of the new local sponsorship, Host City Supporter, program. This program was created by FIFA to grant Host Cities an opportunity to raise funds as they see fit to capitalize on the World Cup (since FIFA essentially collects a large majority of the revenue from media packages and headline sponsors). These sponsorships have been valued around $5 million per slot, according to some sources. This article from Sports Business Journal is informative and I’ve included some highlights below.

Verizon has partnered with FIFA to ensure seamless mobile connectivity for fans attending the 2026 World Cup in North America. Verizon will provide international visitors with "soft SIM" technology, eliminating the need for physical SIM cards and promising fast data speeds across stadiums, tailgate areas, and fan zones. This partnership also extends to the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil.

It’s hard to remember specifics but anyone else have memories from 2010 where a purchase of a physical SIM card in South Africa resulted in also receiving a ball + a vuvuzela? I can’t find pictures but remember, to the dismay of my sister, giving that vuvuzela to my nephew as a gift. The “soft SIM” will be a nice upgrade for travelers.

Speaking of South Africa 2010…

When looking for validation of my statement above, I stumbled into a digital copy of the 2010 South African Fan Guide.

This bit about prices in South Africa and comparing it to other countries made me laugh. The list of options is…interesting.

I still see comments from people about how the field conditions will be shit in 2026 based solely on Copa America 2024. This is a reminder that these are two very different tournaments with different organizers and there’s an actual plan for World Cup 2026.

Here’s a recent update 🙂 :

FIFA continues its collaboration with Michigan State University (MSU) and the University of Tennessee (UT) in a five-year project focused on delivering the best pitches for the 2026 World Cup (+ training sites). Recently, over 40 pitch experts, sod farmers, and industry leaders gathered at MSU for the second Research Field Day. The event highlighted best practices and innovations in turf management. FIFA’s Alan Ferguson emphasized that this will be the biggest pitch project ever, leveraging top research to ensure high-quality playing surfaces.

In a recent interaction on X, I reflected on what makes attending World Cups so special. Sure, the sport, the drama, and the diverse cultures are thrilling, but what truly stands out are the people you meet along the way. There are countless unique stories, from father-son duos who’ve been attending since the '80s, to passionate Argentinian supporters journeyed for days just to make it to Doha for one match. I even met someone who didn’t make it to 2014 Brazil b/c their travel partner accidentally washed their passport the day before departing and were denied entry at the boarding gate.

I have an idea brewing in my mind for 2025 and invite you to hit reply if you’re reading this in your inbox or send a message with your story or past World Cup(s).

Side Note: If you haven’t heard of it yet, AC Momento is a brilliant app that digitizes your match attendance and memories into a digital scrapbook. Highly recommend checking it out—no, this isn’t a paid promo!

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:

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