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For Mark, a 28-year-old senior vice president at a Manhattan bank, snagging a whopping $21,910 worth of tickets for the 2026 USA World Cup was a family affair.
He told The Post that his superfan parents had no specified budget for this year’s tournament — even after dropping an eye-opening $35,506 for an all-inclusive Qatar World Cup package for their family in 2022.
The Long Island native, who chose not to share his real name for fear of sounding like a “rich kid from the Upper West Side,” said he bought the majority of this year’s tickets for himself, his parents and his younger brother using his dad’s credit card, adding that he was charged with logistics due to being the best in the family at navigating the oft-complex virtual FIFA ticket system.
Those eye-popping tournament expenditures aside, his parents, both of whom work as senior accountants, are typically “frugal people” who don’t indulge in fancy clothes or dinners to accommodate their love for travel and other novel experiences, he said.
Case in point: Every four years since 2006, they have bought World Cup tickets for their immediate family. Mark has kept a few tickets from past games as memorabilia, such as a Category 3 ticket to a Colombia vs. Ivory Coast game that cost $90 in 2014 during the World Cup hosted in Brazil.
And they’re not the only superfans out there.
Soccer nuts are shelling out on record prices for the series — co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico, and the first in North America since 1994. It kicks off June 11 and runs until July 19.
On SeatGeek, ticket prices vary widely depending on the game, starting at $192 for Jordan vs. Algeria in California on June 22 and ballooning to a starting point of $7,986 for the July 19 final.
On FIFA’s website, ticket prices are sky-high, with most jumping off from $1,000 or more — though savvy soccer fans can still find some games for more reasonable prices, such as a June 13 match between Australia and Turkey in Vancouver that has Category 2 tickets available for $380.
The Post talked with three families who have splurged on the sports showdown of the moment.
‘Our family lives and breathes soccer’
Now that he’s of working age, Mark told The Post that it “only felt right” to cough up some cash for the event, contributing $1,200 of his own money to see this year’s celebrated sports showdown; his 26-year-old brother also tossed in a few hundred dollars.
“Our family lives and breathes soccer — we have it on the TV almost every day in the house,” said Mark, who grew up playing the sport himself. “There’s nothing more special than seeing the national teams play … My fondest memories are going to the World Cup in some of the best places on Earth. Now that I’m older, I have a true appreciation of what my parents sacrificed to give us those memories together.”
To celebrate the massive event, Mark and fam had two goals: to obtain tickets for the July 19 final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and to see at least one game outside of the tristate area.
They accomplished the first goal, though Mark only managed to snag two tix for the final game, which he and his father will attend together. Though he originally also bought two Category 2 tickets to a June 15 Atlanta game between Spain and Cape Verde for $620, his family can’t make it because of scheduling issues; he ended up selling them on the FIFA marketplace for a slight profit, at $765.
After standing in queues for two authorized FIFA virtual lotteries between last October and January, Mark came away having spent over $20,000 for 12 tickets that his family will use across five games.
His final 2026 World Cup list breaks down to:
Brazil vs. Haiti in Philadelphia | June 19
- Two Category 1 tickets, through FIFA: $890
- Travel: about $250, or $125 per person, though they are unsure whether they are taking a car or train; estimate includes gas, potential train tickets and tolls
- Food & merch: about $100
Norway vs. Senegal in East Rutherford | June 22
- Two Category 1 tickets: $1,240
- Travel: about $250, or $125 per person, transportation mode-dependent
- Food & merch: about $100
Croatia vs. Ghana in Philadelphia | June 27
- Two Category 1 tickets: $890
- Travel: about $250, or $125 per person, transportation mode-dependent
- Food & merch: about $100
Round of 16 in East Rutherford | July 5
- Four Category 2 tickets: $3,140
- Travel: about $500, or $125 per person, transportation mode-dependent
- Food & merch: about $200
Finals in East Rutherford | July 19
- Two Category 1 tickets: $15,750
- Travel: about $250, or $125 per person, transportation mode-dependent
- Food & merch: about $100
Total, with estimates for travel, food and merchandise included: $24,010
Santa was generous last Christmas
When 34-year-old Briana Zwingelberg of Austin, Texas, was brainstorming what to gift her soccer-loving husband Grayson for Christmas last December, two tickets to one of the impending World Cup matches seemed like the obvious choice — despite them costing significantly more than either of the pair would normally spend on recreation.
The Category 1 tickets for the June 27 Algeria vs. Austria game in Kansas City rang in at $1,128.52 ($564.26 each) on SeatGeek. Briana, a writer, told The Post that she “wasn’t really worried” about the possibility of being scammed, having “never been burned” when buying tickets to recreational events on the third-party platform.
More than anything, she was excited to gift her husband tickets to this “once in a lifetime” experience.
“He’s been a huge soccer fan since I met him, and his family’s big into soccer,” said Briana, who met her now-husband, an energy asset management worker, in 2019. “The last time the World Cup was in the US was in 1994, when we were, like, 3 years old, so the chance of this happening again in our lifetime is pretty slim and rare.
“It was a well worth-it Christmas gift.”
Though Grayson was not entirely shocked by the grand reveal — “She had hinted a couple of times,” he joked to The Post — he was “very excited” about his wife’s grand gesture. The couple has decided that Grayson and his brother, who’s also a big soccer fan, will use the tickets, while Briana will spend the weekend with friends of theirs in Kansas City, likely watching the game at a nearby bar.
Additionally, Grayson decided to splurge on another World Cup match through SeatGeek — a Round of 32 match in Arlington, Texas, on July 3 that cost $1,131 for a Category 1 ticket.
Grayson will make the four-hour drive from Austin to attend the game with a close friend from high school. If the US gets second place in their group, they will be playing in the game — an outcome Grayson is gunning for.
While Grayson and his friend had discussed shelling out for tickets to a West Coast match, the pair decided the overall price would be “way too expensive.”
“You’d have to fly, get a hotel — it didn’t make sense,” he said.
In total, here’s what the Zwingelburgs ended up spending on both games:
Algeria vs. Austria in Kansas City | June 27
- Two Category 1 tickets, through SeatGeek: $1,128.52
- Flight: $500 round trip
- Lodging: $0 (staying with friends)
- Food: about $100
- Merch: $0 (not planning on buying)
Round of 32 in Arlington | July 3
- One Category 1 ticket, through SeatGeek: $1,131
- Drive: about $90 on gas round-trip
- Parking: TBD
- Hotel: about $250
- Food/Merch: about $200 (“If it’s team USA playing, I’ll probably get something memorable,” quipped Grayson.)
Total: $3,399.52
‘Our last chance to go’
Luis Chavez — a 40-year-old Dallas-based UPS driver who will be off three weeks from work, along with his wife, to travel for the soccer extravaganza — elected not to use any third-party platforms for the four matches he is attending.
With both him and his wife, Rani, turning the big 4-0 this year and it being the first time Mexico has hosted the World Cup in 40 years, it “felt like a lifetime opportunity we couldn’t pass up,” Chavez, who proudly identifies with his Mexican-American heritage, told The Post.
Chavez said he realizes the matches are expensive. However, he feels that, ultimately, it’s an opportunity that cannot be passed up.
“I have to wait another 30 or 40 years to go to another World Cup, I’ll be 70, 80 years old — so I feel like this is our last chance to go,” he explained. “I feel like if it’s in your own backyard, no matter what, you have to go.”
Together, the couple will spend the following for each game:
Opening World Cup match: Mexico vs. South Africa in Mexico City | June 11
- Two Category 3 tickets: $2,820
- Flight: 80,000 American Airlines miles (40,000 miles each) round-trip, plus $338 in fees
- Airbnb: $400
- Food & Merch: about $1,500 over the two days they will be in the area (The couple wants to visit some nearby artisan Mexican shops, which they are also budgeting for.)
Japan vs. Netherlands in Dallas | June 14
- $900 contribution toward a FIFA “Ring of Honor” suite/”Suite Essentials” hospitality package, which they are splitting with six other friends. The package, which is separate from Category seating, includes a guaranteed match ticket and suite access, dedicated venue entry, pre-packaged snacks and soft drinks and a commemorative gift.
- Drive: $30
- Parking: $128 (through FIFA)
- Food & merch: Included in hospitality package.
Round of 32 in Dallas | June 30
- Four Category 2 tickets: $1,620 (including Luis’ parents)
- Drive: $30
- Parking: $128 (through FIFA)
- Food & merch: $500
Round of 16 in Houston | July 4
- Two Category 1 tickets: $1,490
- Drive: TBD on gas
- Hotel: about $500 for two nights, though they have not booked yet
- Food & merch: $700
However, that doesn’t include the $1,100 worth of merch — including sweatshirts, T-shirts and hats — that Luis and his wife have already bought in spirit to wear to the games.
Total: $12,184
