World Cup
One year from World Cup opener, FIFA leaves questions unanswered on tickets and security
A year from the largest World Cup ever, there has been no announcement on general ticket sales. Prices for most seats, location of a draw, or security arrangements have not been disclosed. FIFA has mostly avoided disclosing details of an event set for 16 stadiums across the United States, Mexico and Canada.
There is uncertainty about whether fans from some nations will be welcome. Eleven of the venues are located in the U.S., where all matches will be played from the quarterfinals on.
Security is a concern, too. At the last major football tournament in the U.S., the 2024 Copa America final at Miami Gardens, Florida, started 82 minutes late after spectators breached security gates.
“That was certainly a reminder and a wake-up call if anybody needed it that those types of things are going to be used in terms of the ultimate assessment of whether this World Cup is successful,” said former U.S. defender Alexi Lalas, now Fox’s lead football analyst.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s travel ban on citizens from 12 nations exempted athletes, coaches, staff and relatives while not mentioning fans. Vice President JD Vance made what could be interpreted as a warning on May 6.
“Of course, everybody is welcome to come and see this incredible event. I know we’ll have visitors probably from close to 100 countries. We want them to come. We want them to celebrate. We want them to watch the game,” he said. “But when the time is up they’ll have to go home. Otherwise, they’ll have to talk to Secretary Noem,” he added, speaking alongside Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
Back in U.S. for first time in 32 years
The 1994 World Cup sparked the launch of Major League football with 12 teams in 1996, and $50 million in World Cup profits seeded the U.S. football Foundation, tasked with developing the sport’s growth. MLS now has 30 teams, plays in 22 football specific stadiums and has club academies to grow the sport and improve talent.
Next year’s tournament will include 104 games, up from 64 from 1998 through 2022, and the 11 U.S. stadiums are all NFL homes with lucrative luxury suites and club seating. It also will be the first World Cup run by FIFA without a local organizing committee.
“The legacy initiative of 2026 is around how we ensure that football is everywhere in this county,” U.S. football Federation CEO JT Batson said. “How do we ensure that every American can walk, ride their bike or take public transit to a safe place to play football? How do we make it to where every school in America has football accessible to their students? And how do we make it to wherever every American can truly see themselves in the game?”
Interest in football has vastly increased in the U.S., with England’s Premier League averaging 510,000 viewers per match window on NBC’s networks last season and the European Champions League final drawing more than 2 million viewers in each of the past five years on CBS. However, CBS broadcast just 26 of 189 Champions League matches on TV in 2024-25 and streamed the rest.
MLS drew about 12.2 million fans last year, second to 14.7 million in 2023-24 for the Premier League’s 20 teams, but MLS has largely disappeared from broadcast TV since starting a 10-year contract with Apple TV+ in 2023. Apple spokesman Sam Citron said the company does not release viewer figures.
In a fractured television landscape, different deals were negotiated by FIFA, UEFA, MLS, the NWSL, the USSF and the five major European leagues.
“You basically have over 2,800 game windows per season aired in the United States and so that requires distribution largely on streaming platforms like Paramount+ or ESPN+, but it’s difficult for new fan adoption and it makes reach kind of challenging,” said Gerry Cardinale, managing partner of RedBird Capital Partners, which holds controlling interests in AC Milan and Toulouse and owns a non-controlling stake of Fenway Sports Group, parent of Liverpool. “Kids today are getting weaned on Premier League football and Serie A football, and when you watch that as a product, it’s hard for MLS to compete.”
1994 World Cup set attendance record
The 1994 World Cup, a 24-nation tournament, drew a record 3.58 million fans for 52 matches. Ticket prices ranged from $25-$75 for most first round games and $180-$475 for the final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
FIFA, which has about 800 people working at an office in Coral Gables, Florida, says it will announce information on general tickets in the third quarter. It wouldn’t say whether prices will be fixed or variable.
Hospitality packages are available on FIFA’s website through On Location. For the eight matches at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, including the final on July 19, prices range from $25,800 to $73,200 per person.
Variable ticket pricing possible
FIFA appears to be using variable pricing for this year’s Club World Cup, played at 12 U.S. stadiums from June 14 to July 13, and some prices repeatedly have been slashed. Marriott Bonvoy, a U.S. football Federation partner, has been offering free tickets to some of its elite members.
Asked about Club World Cup ticket sales and team base camp arrangements, Manolo Zubiria, the World Cup’s chief tournament officer, hung up four minutes and five questions into a telephone interview with The Associated Press. Brendan O’Connell, the publicist who arranged the interview, wrote in an email to the AP: “The guest was not prepared for those questions.”
FIFA’s media relations staff would not make FIFA president Gianni Infantino available to discuss the tournament.
Ahead of the 1994 World Cup, FIFA announced in May 1992 the draw would take place at Las Vegas on Dec. 18 or 19, 1993. FIFA has not revealed plans for this year’s draw but appears to be planning for Las Vegas on Dec. 5.
Regular ticket sales began in February 1993 for the U.S. football family and general first- and second-round sales started that June. Fans submitted lottery applications in October 1993 for games from the quarterfinals on.
Teams could train away from World Cup cities
While not detailing ticketing plans for next year’s tournament, FIFA is spreading it beyond the host cites and lists about 60 possible base camps for teams to use, paired with hotels. Some are fancy — The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia — and some more Spartan — the Courtyard by Marriott Mesa at Wrigleyville West in Arizona.
Thousands of arrangements must be coordinated. Major League Baseball is drawing up its schedule to ensure that the four teams whose ballparks share parking lots with World Cup stadiums — in Arlington, Texas; Kansas City, Missouri; Philadelphia; and Seattle — won’t play home games on the dates of tournament matches.
Boris Gartner, CEO of La Liga North America, a joint venture of the Spanish football league and Relevent Sports, said the 2026 World Cup should be viewed as just another step in the sport’s long-term growth in the United States.
“If you have a clear understanding of the market and the audience, a clear understanding of the value that these properties bring to media companies, and you mix content with a commercial strategy, with the right media distribution strategy, this is something that will continue to grow over the next two decades,” he said. “If more people are watching the NWSL, more people are going to be interested in football, that could potentially end up watching a Bundesliga game or La Liga game.”
-AP
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Russia-based forward Olakunle Olusegun is still awaiting an entry visa to South Africa, creating the possibility that Nigeria may prosecute the encounter with only 21 available players.
Friday’s crucial 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying encounter at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, South Africa.
Head Coach Eric Sekou Chelle will have a total of 20 players available for Wednesday’s second training session, as the Super Eagles intensify preparations for the tie against the Crocodiles.
By Tuesday night, 18 players had checked into the team’s camp at The Ranch Hotel in Polokwane, with Portugal-based defender Zaidu Sanusi and Spain-based forward Jerome Akor Adams expected to join on Wednesday. United States-based midfielder Alhassan Yusuf Abdullahi is due to arrive on Thursday.
Chelle has had to adjust his squad following injuries to Bright Osayi-Samuel and Cyriel Dessers, prompting the late inclusion of Zaidu Sanusi and Christantus Uche of Crystal Palace. Earlier, a knock to wing-back Felix Agu had reduced the initial 23-man roster to 22.
Team captain William Ekong lacing his boots for training in Polokwane on Tuesday
Friday’s Matchday 9 fixture will kick off at 6pm South Africa time (5pm Nigeria time) at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium, as the Super Eagles aim to strengthen their position in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying race.
21 SUPER EAGLES TO BATTLE LESOTHO IN POLOKWANE
Goalkeepers: Stanley Nwabali (Chippa United, South Africa); Amas Obasogie (Singida Blackstars, Tanzania); Adeleye Adebayo (Volos FC, Greece)
Defenders: William Ekong (Al-Kholood, Saudi Arabia); Calvin Bassey (Fulham FC, England); Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (Hull City, England); Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal); Bruno Onyemaechi (Olympiakos, Greece); Benjamin Fredericks (Dender FC, Belgium)
Midfielders: Alex Iwobi (Fulham FC, England); Frank Onyeka (Brentford FC, England); Alhassan Yusuf Abdullahi (New England Revolution, USA); Wilfred Ndidi (Besiktas FC, Turkey); Christantus Uche (Crystal Palace, England)
Forwards: Ademola Lookman (Atalanta BC, Italy); Samuel Chukwueze (Fulham FC, England); Victor Osimhen (Galatasaray FC, Turkey); Simon Moses (Paris FC, France); Tolu Arokodare (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England); Terem Moffi (OGC Nice, France); Jerome Akor Adams (Sevilla FC, Spain)
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The Cape Verde Islands are one win away from a World Cup place that confirms the promise they have shown in recent years but would have been scarcely believable 20 years ago.
The wind-swept island archipelago, off the west coast of Africa, with a population of around 600,000, will become the second smallest country after Iceland to qualify if they win one of their last two qualifiers over the next week.
They are away to Libya on Wednesday before a home clash with Eswatini on Monday in which to ensure top spot in Group D and beat much-fancied Cameroon to the automatic qualifying spot for next year’s tournament in North America.
Cape Verde reached the last stages of qualification for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil but were deducted points for erroneously fielding a suspended player, thereby missing out on the playoffs where they would also have been two games away from reaching the finals.
In their debut Africa Cup of Nations finals appearance in 2013, Cape Verde reached the quarter-finals, prompting their coach to burst into song at the post-match press conference, and they did so again at the last edition in the Ivory Coast, unlucky to be eliminated on penalties.
Two decades ago, however, they had barely played any international football, averaging two games a year from 1986, when they joined FIFA, to 1990 when they competed in the World Cup qualifiers for the first time ranked 182nd in the world.
The progress since has been rapid, driven by actively finding players from the Diaspora around the world.
TALENT IDENTIFICATION PAYING OFF
“The football association devised new strategies around identifying and recruiting talent throughout the large Cape Verdean communities,” said U.S.-based agent Tony Araujo, who was born on the islands and worked closely with the team over decades.
“The talent identification and global recruitment process started to pay off huge dividends around 2013, when they qualified for their first Cup of Nations final.”
Scarce natural resources and an arid landscape have long caused migration from the islands, stretching back to the Portuguese colonial period.
Migrants left in droves for Portugal as well as other destinations, like the U.S. eastern seaboard and Dutch port of Rotterdam.
The squad for this week’s fixtures has six Dutch-born players plus others born in Portugal, France, and Ireland. Shamrock Rovers’ Roberto “Pico” Lopes, who will play in central defence, was among many scouted and approached, some more creatively than others.
“I set up a LinkedIn profile when I was in college but never really looked at it,” Lopes told Reuters.
“I got a message from the then coach Rui Aguas, but he wrote to me in Portuguese. I thought it was spam and took no notice.
“Then about nine months later, he messaged me back, saying, ‘Hi Roberto, have you had a chance to consider what I said to you?’ I copied the message into Google Translate. And it basically said that, ‘we’re looking at getting new players into the Cape Verde squad and would you be interested in declaring for Cape Verde? I was absolutely buzzing with that! I was like, ‘yep, 100% I’d love to be a part of the squad’,” he recalled.
In the past, it was hard for the team to attract top European-based Cape Verdean talent, Araujo said.
SUCCESS HAS ATTRACTED NEW PLAYERS
“But with new waves of recent success, a lot more European-based talents are inclined to choose Cape Verde to showcase their talents at the international level.”
Victory in Tripoli on Wednesday will be tough, but if unsuccessful they will be heavily fancied to secure qualification on Monday with home success against the Swazis.
Beating Cameroon last month set off celebrations across the islands, and those will surely be repeated with vigour should they secure a World Cup spot.
-Reuters
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Egypt will look to confirm their place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup when they face Djibouti in a Group A clash of the African qualifiers this Wednesday in Morocco.
The Pharaohs, who have appeared at the global finals three times — in 1934, 1990 and 2018 — need only two points from their remaining two matches to seal qualification for the expanded 48-team tournament in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Currently top of Group A with 20 points, Egypt hold a five-point lead over second-placed Burkina Faso, who will also be in action away to Sierra Leone on Wednesday.
A victory on Wednesday would all but guarantee Egypt’s qualification and pave the way for celebrations in Cairo when they host Guinea-Bissau in their final qualifier on Sunday.
On paper, Hossam Hassan’s men are overwhelming favourites against bottom-placed Djibouti, who have collected just one point from eight matches and have been forced to host home fixtures outside their country due to stadium accreditation issues with the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Head coach Hossam Hassan has kept faith with most of the players who featured in September’s matches against Ethiopia (2–0) and Burkina Faso (0–0). Star forward Mohamed Salah, Mahmoud ‘Trezeguet’ Hassan, and veteran goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shennawy headline the squad.
The only notable absentee is Omar Marmoush of Manchester City, who is sidelined with a knee injury picked up early in the draw against Burkina Faso.
Hassan — the man whose goal sent Egypt to the 1990 World Cup as a player — is now seeking to etch his name in history as one of the few to qualify for the tournament both as a player and coach.
Liverpool talisman Salah, who has gone three Premier League games without a goal, will be eager to rediscover his scoring touch, while Trezeguet is expected to share more attacking responsibility following his impressive run with Al Ahly.
Both Salah and Trezeguet, alongside El-Shennawy, will be aiming for a second World Cup appearance, having featured at Russia 2018.
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