Living the World Cup dream comes at cost for Mena fans

• Route to final as much as $75,000
• Only wealthiest fans can attend
• US, Canada and Mexico host games

Middle East or North African football fans who dream of World Cup glory would need to spend tens of thousands of dollars if their team reached the final, new analysis shows.

The cost of following a team from the group stage through to next month’s final in Newark, New Jersey, would place the experience beyond the reach of many supporters, limiting it largely to the wealthiest fans, according to research by betting information website AceOdds.

Supporters of Iraq would face the highest bill if the Lions of Mesopotamia were to progress all the way to the final on July 19. The total cost of flights, match tickets, accommodation, food and drink over the six-week tournament would come to $75,255 – almost 12 times the average annual salary in Iraq.

Tunisia offers the cheapest route to the final among teams from the Mena region, although fans of the Eagles of Carthage would still need to spend almost $60,000.

“The World Cup appears to have shifted from being a globally inclusive event to one based on willingness and ability to pay,” said Simon Chadwick, professor of Afro-Eurasian Sport at Emlyon Business School and an AGBI columnist.

The 2026 tournament, which begins on Thursday, will be the largest in football history, featuring 48 teams and 104 matches across three countries. The US will host 78 matches, or three-quarters of the total, while Canada and Mexico will stage 13 games each.

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Matches will be played across 16 stadiums in 16 cities. Fifa projects total attendance of about 5.5 million spectators, comfortably surpassing the record 3.6 million fans who attended the 1994 World Cup in the US.

It is also shaping up to be one of the most expensive World Cups for travelling supporters. Ticket prices for the final in New Jersey have risen above $30,000 on secondary markets, although Fifa released a limited number of tickets priced at about $60 following criticism over affordability.

“All of this contrasts with what happened at Qatar 2022, when ticket and flight availability seemed much less of a problem, travel distances were far shorter and accommodation challenges ultimately proved less severe than many had feared,” Chadwick said.