Delays, distrust, dynamic prices – how ‘welcoming’ will World Cup be?

Gianni Infantino, the president of Fifa, has repeatedly said that “the world will be welcome” at the men’s World Cup in the summer, which will feature matches from Canada and Mexico.

The Swiss stated earlier this year, “We’ll bring the world to the United States of America.” Whatever some might say, “the world loves America.”

However, more weight is being drawn on whether the USA will be as welcoming as Infantino claims as the tournament draws nearer.

The main host country of the tournament is at a division and disruption as a result of President Donald Trump’s increasing level of political violence, state troops dispatched to major cities, and a more hardline stance on immigration.

More than 4.5 million fans entered a draw last week to win tickets to the next summer’s games, which included a chance to win them.

Fifa’s pricing strategy immediately sparked a significant backlash.

Fans who successfully entered the draw last week spent hours in digital queues online are now listing them online. Fifa has not officially released a full price list.

Tickets for the first game in the United States range from $560 (£417) to $2, 235 (£1, 662). At the last World Cup in Qatar, the opening match was priced between $55 (£41) and $618 (£460).

The cheapest ticket for the 2026 final costs $2, 030 (£1, 510), and the most expensive is $6, 000 (£4, 462). Meanwhile, tickets for Hospitality are not yet available for purchase, but they almost certainly will be significantly more expensive.

Some early-in-the-series tickets to games are available for $60 (£44), but stadium map images indicate that only a small portion of seats are available.

Additionally, according to The Athletic, Fifa will start imposing 15% resale fees on both the seller and the buyer of tickets through its official website.

The BBC posed questions to Fifa, but they did not respond.

The Football Supporters Association’s England Fans’ Embassy, led by Thomas Concannon, said, “These prices are astonishing – $2,030 for the cheapest final ticket is unacceptable.”

“If fans are successful in obtaining a category four ticket from the first game to the last, that could at least cost them $3, 180 (£2, 363). That is more than twice the cost of Qatar.

This will be the most expensive World Cup for match-going fans that we’ve ever seen by a long way, despite expenses for travel and lodging.

Additionally, Fifa is implementing a “dynamic” pricing structure for the tournament, which means that tournament tickets could be significantly increased in later sales periods for matches that are deemed to be in high demand.

While excluding foreign fans, the system has the potential to benefit Americans.

According to Scott Friedman, who founded the Ticket Talk Network in the USA, “dynamic pricing has really been a thing here for more than a decade.” For Fifa, supply and demand are at odds with one another as they strive to maximize their revenue.

The system allows Americans to purchase resale tickets for games with lower demand and less face value 48 hours before a game.

Trump signed a letter urging that “every eligible athlete, official, and fan from all countries around the world would be able to enter the United States without discrimination during his previous term in office when the World Cup bid was accepted.”

Some fans, including those from the UK and the EU, will be able to travel without a visa to the World Cup. Due to the fact that fans will only need to apply through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, which is typically approved or rejected within 72 hours, because 42 of the country’s regions are included in the US’s Visa Waiver Program.

However, most citizens of most nations, especially those in Asia, Africa, and South America, must apply for visas. Many of them have already secured World Cup qualification or are likely to do so.

The USA did not follow the Russian and Qatar visa fast-track rules that were put in place at the previous two World Cups.

Fans who want to attend games must apply and go through the same line as other Americans who travel there, and they may encounter delays that won’t allow them to obtain a visa before the tournament is over.

The Trump administration has expanded its authority to look into applicants’ social media use and public political statements, and most US visa applications typically require at least one face-to-face interview with an embassy.

As of right now, some nations’ average wait times for an initial tourist visa interview are well past a year.

The State Department made the announcement last week that some embassies would increase their staffing levels in an effort to process applications more quickly, but it hasn’t specified which nations or how many staff members.

Travis Murphy, a former State Department diplomat and founder of Jetr Global Sports, a company that assists foreign athletes with getting US visas, said, “We have a long way to go before we’re ready to welcome the world.”

The current administration has spoken out against restricting travel abroad and putting restrictions on some procedures to make it more difficult.

“The US visa application process hasn’t been very transparent or effective in decades. Regulations haven’t really changed much; how strictly some of the rules are upheld is really what counts.

You also hold the premise that perhaps people aren’t welcome or unsafe here. Although I don’t believe that to be true, I can see why people across the world would think that way.

Trump has deployed National Guard troops in Democrat-dominated cities, including Los Angeles, which will host eight games, and has also increased immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) officers’ orders.

Trump has threatened to have matches canceled from cities he deems “unsafe,” and ICE and National Guard deployments have sparked mass protests from distrustful neighborhoods in some cities.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies, an American think tank, has Daniel Byman as director of the Warfare, Irregular Threats, and Terrorism Program. “There is no question that the divisions in the United States are significant,” he claims. The president or some of his key figures are attempting to push a more polarized agenda on various issues, according to the day. There is a lot of rage.

There are many “we don’t know” solutions for security with the Trump administration because they have little experience with big events.

“There have been cuts at the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI that have been pretty consistent with the government agencies.” That also results in the loss of institutional knowledge as well as people.