Draw ensures clarity
©IMAGO
The 48 balls are ready, after which football fans all over the world can start the detailed planning. With the draw for the 2026 World Cup this Friday (6 p.m./CET) in Washington, the XXL event in the USA, Mexico and Canada will have a firm structure. Who plays when and where? FIFA will clarify this this weekend – at least for the preliminary round of the World Cup, which is being held for the first time with 48 teams. The World Cup will be played from June 11th to July 19th. These are the most important questions for fans.
What is the ticket situation?
Very tense. In the first two sales phases, fans bought almost two million tickets for next summer’s World Cup. According to the world association, the three hosts had the greatest demand – followed by England, Germany, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, Argentina and France.
The third phase lasts from December 11th to January 13th. Fans can apply for individual, fixed games. It doesn’t matter when in this time window they do this, because the tickets will be raffled off at random, as FIFA announced. It is the last official sales phase of the world association, after which remaining tickets will be awarded on a first come, first served basis.
FIFA announced in September that tickets were available for as little as 60 US dollars (around 51 euros). The only problem is that the green areas that represent this price category four are negligible in the World Cup stadiums. So there are hardly any tickets available for the cheapest price. Instead, yellow (Category 1) and red seats (Category 2) dominate the arena plans – these are significantly more expensive. Prices are limitless on the resale market, which the world association has already opened. Tickets for normal group games, which should actually cost $60, are suddenly around $500 and have therefore increased in price almost tenfold.
For other games the increases are even higher. On the official FIFA resale market, tickets for the semi-finals and the final are being offered at a price of over $100,000 per ticket. On the secondary market, FIFA takes 15 percent from the seller and adds 15 percent to the buyer’s price. The criticism from fans, especially on social networks, is huge.
What should you consider when planning your World Cup travel?
Fans have to be prepared for long distances and long travel times – unlike in Qatar in 2022, for example. The 16 venues are divided into three zones to avoid wild flying back and forth between the west and east coasts. The distances are still large. Not only for tickets, but also for flights and accommodation: it will be expensive.
In the best case, Germany has two games in a row at the same location – this would be possible, for example, in Group I (East Rutherford near New York), Group C (Boston) or Group H (Atlanta or Miami). If the DFB team ends up in Group F, G or K, travel between the individual host countries may even be necessary.
“This tournament also remains a challenge logistically – for us and for our fans, whose support we are very much looking forward to at the World Cup. We really appreciate how much they will do next year to be able to take part,” said national coach Julian Nagelsmann. All-round, worry-free packages have been announced by travel providers – but these can only be put together after the draw has been drawn and scheduled.
When is the World Cup schedule coming – and what does it bring?
Unlike usual, the exact schedule will not be announced this time, but will be presented on Saturday (6 p.m./CET) in a live show moderated by President Gianni Infantino. Head coach Nagelsmann’s German team already knows about their group opponents on Friday after the draw, and they find out the stadiums and the specific kick-off times about 24 hours later.
From then on, fans can plan their trip in detail. It is expected that European football heavyweights such as Germany, England and France will have kick-off times in the preliminary round in the Central European evening hours and not at night. The knockout round is more difficult to plan because of the many eventualities.
Do I need a visa as a World Cup stadium visitor?
No, that is not mandatory. Instead, Germans have to submit a so-called Esta (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) application online for the USA. This is a program that allows citizens to stay in the United States without a visa, for example for vacation. Germany is one of the countries that are part of the program. Anyone who has a German passport can obtain Esta approval.
What do I generally need to know about the Esta approval?
Every traveler needs them – even small children. A passport is required for the application, which should be valid for at least the duration of the planned stay. The fee is 40 US dollars (around 34.50 euros). Once granted, Esta is valid for two years – but if the specified passport expires earlier, it will also expire earlier. The rules are similar for Mexico and Canada, where a visa is also not mandatory.
Who is broadcasting the tournament?
Telekom with its paid online channel “MagentaTV” has acquired the rights for all 104 games. Through a complex contract with sublicenses, “ARD” and “ZDF” will also report live from a total of 60 games – this includes all of the German team’s games as well as the two semi-finals and the final on July 19th in East Rutherford near New York.
“MagentaTV” has 44 games exclusively, including two quarter-finals and three round of 16. Particularly in the preliminary round and the subsequent round of 16, games are to be expected on the German night due to the time difference of six to nine hours a day. The details will be made public on Saturday when FIFA plans to publish the kick-off times for all 104 games.