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≡ FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 ≡
An April poll released last week showed 33% of Americans are interested in the FIFA World Cup and plan to watch highlights or full games, read about the tournament or attend matches in person.
The Sharkey Institute of the Seton Hall Stillman School of Business sports poll of 1,601 adults from 2-9 April reported further than 40% do not intend to follow the tournament and 27% did not know or had no opinion. The results are an increase from the same question posted before the Qatar 2022 World Cup, where 27% of Americans said they were interested. The good news was that 50% of those polled in the ages 18-34 said they would be following the 2026 event.
Interestingly, the poll showed a drop in interest in the U.S. over time, with 38% excited to follow it in April 2025, but down to 31% in October 2025 and 27% now. Seton Hall Associate Marketing Professor Daniel Ladik, who oversees the poll, said:
“The closer this FIFA World Cup gets, the worse it looks to American fans. Even the most avid World Cup fan is separating their support for their favorite national team from the unusually high costs and difficult logistics related to getting to some of the venues.
“It is clear that FIFA views the three-nation North American World Cup as a rare opportunity to maximize revenue generation for its programs. One wonders whether their strategy in implementing the process matches any of the 48 contestant teams’ preparation for the World Cup itself.”
The polling showed 59% of Americans said they were sports fans, with 30% of Americans saying they have interest in soccer.
A parallel poll in March concerning the World Baseball Classic showed 35% of Americans interested and the tournament had its best ratings in the U.S. ever. A February poll showed 64% of Americans were interested in the Olympic Winter Games in Italy, which also drew enormous ratings for NBC, averaging at least 23.5 million viewers across its afternoon and primetime windows daily.
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After a significant removal of unsold tickets from FIFA’s official sales site(s) on or about 30 May – which has led to reports of a movement of thousands of tickets on unofficial resale sites – TicketData.com tracking on Monday showed perhaps 18,000 tickets remaining for sale by FIFA itself.
A total of 34 matches showed little or no ticket availability on the FIFA sale and resales sites, and 22 more with less than 100 available.
Of the remaining 50 matches, the highest “get-in” prices were for:
● $2,383: 14 July semifinal in Arlington, Texas
● $1,300: 05 July round-of-16 match in East Rutherford, New jersey
● $928: 06 July for round-of-16 match in Seattle, Washington
● $927: 07 July for round-of-16 in match in Atlanta, Georgia
● $910: 06 July for round-of-16 match in Arlington, Texas
The least-expensive match was the 24 June in Seattle for Qatar vs. Bosnia & Herzegovina at $216. Nine other group-stage matches had tickets listed for under $300, most with a few hundred tickets left.
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FIFA posted a list of official “FIFA Fan Festival” sites in 13 of the 16 host cities, including the three Mexican host cities, the two Canadian hosts and eight of the 11 U.S. hosts, excluding official events in New York-New Jersey, Santa Clara and Seattle, which will have smaller events.
The fan festival concept goes back to public viewing sites during the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and FIFA formalized the program at 12 sites for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The size and duration of the 2026 fan events varies by city, with some open during the entire tournament and many in the U.S. for shorter periods.
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