World Cup 2026 Has a Checkout Problem

The World Cup is supposed to be a monthlong festival of flags, chants, bad wigs and beautiful irrationality. But in the final days before kickoff, the 2026 tournament is beginning to look less like a sporting celebration and more like a checkout page designed by someone who thinks “surge pricing” is a love language. Yes, North America is about to host the biggest World Cup ever — 104 matches across the U.S., Canada and Mexico, from June 11 through July 19 — but fans are already learning that getting to the game may require a second mortgage, a tactical transit plan and the emotional resilience usually reserved for airline baggage fees.

From a PYMNTS point of view, this is especially painful because the commerce side of the tournament is supposed to be the smooth part. PYMNTS recently described the World Cup as a “six-week commerce machine” running through airports, hotels, restaurants, bars, transit systems and checkout counters. Visa, the event’s Official Payment Technology Partner, is leaning into payments, art, small business support and venue commerce, while Visa and Bank of America are also backing Street Soccer Parks in every U.S. host city. Bank of America, FIFA’s Official Bank Sponsor, has run cardholder promotions tied to hospitality packages and fan access. The infrastructure story is supposed to be: tap, pay, cheer, repeat.

Instead, the fan story has become: tap, wince, ask whether this shuttle includes a steak dinner. The Associated Press reported that fans headed to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey are facing $98 round-trip train fares from Manhattan for a ride that normally costs $12.90, while Massachusetts fans are looking at $80 fares for a trip that usually costs $20. One Scotland supporter told AP the planning has been “a nightmare,” then helped organize school buses for nearly 1,000 Tartan Army fans at about $50 per person — saving the group more than $85,000 compared with the local bus option. That is not a fan club. That is a procurement department in face paint.

Parking is its own little penalty shootout. The Guardian reported that FIFA parking passes have reached $175, with Dallas semifinal parking listed at that price, Kansas City quarterfinal parking at $125 and some group-stage parking at $75. In Boston, local organizers said stadium parking is expected to cost about $175 per spot, with tailgating limited to ticketed fans and access tightly controlled, Boston 25b News reported. Nothing says “global festival of sport” quite like paying luxury-dinner money to place a sedan in a large rectangle.

The tickets have not exactly been a warm hug either. New York and New Jersey attorneys general are investigating FIFA ticketing practices after complaints about variable pricing, seating-map changes and sky-high costs. AP reported that some seats for the July 19 final were going for nearly $33,000, even as New York City announced a lottery for 1,000 discounted $50 tickets to MetLife matches, excluding the final. FIFA had also made some $60 tickets available through national federations. So, yes, affordable tickets technically exist — in roughly the same way buried treasure exists.

Hotels have produced the strangest twist: gouge too hard and the boom can become a shrug. The American Hotel & Lodging Association says 80% of surveyed respondents report bookings below initial forecasts, with visa barriers, geopolitical concerns and FIFA room-block releases all weighing on demand. ESPN summed upthe fan math neatly: parking above $200 in one city, a train fare four times normal in another and matchday hotel rooms approaching $700 in the priciest market. This is how a host city discovers that “pent-up demand” still has a credit limit.

Even cities without matches are trying to catch some confetti. Washington, D.C., which is not hosting games, is getting a free FIFA World Cup Fan Zone on the National Mall, tied to America’s 250th anniversary programming. Orlando, also not a host city, is staging an Orlando Soccer Celebration with viewings of all 104 matches, live entertainment, global food and a pop-up store. Call it World Cup adjacency: if you cannot host the match, host the merch line.

And then there is the darker payments problem: fraud. The FTC is warning fans about copycat websites, fake tickets and screenshots masquerading as admission, while FinCEN has urged financial institutions near host cities to watch for suspicious activity tied to human trafficking risks around the tournament. That is the hard edge of mega-event commerce: the bigger the fan frenzy, the bigger the opportunity for bad actors.

The World Cup will still be huge. It will still move money through every imaginable channel. But the lesson for merchants, sponsors and host cities is simple: frictionless payments cannot rescue a friction-filled experience. If every fan touchpoint feels like a toll booth, the beautiful game starts to look a lot like an itemized receipt.