The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off this week – and for many fans, the biggest question isn’t who wins. It’s whether they can even get there.
Laura Williamson, editor in chief of The Athletic, told NPR that a convergence of problems is keeping supporters out of stadiums: ticket prices that have gone through the roof, complicated travel restrictions, political tensions, and a separate public health concern in the form of an Ebola outbreak.
The combination is unusual even by World Cup standards. Fans planning international travel to matches are contending with logistical and financial hurdles that Williamson says are shaping who actually shows up in the stands — and who watches from home.
Costs are a central issue. Prices for tickets and travel packages have climbed well beyond what many supporters can absorb, cutting into the crowd mix that typically makes a World Cup distinctive. Demand hasn’t softened the numbers; if anything, the opposite.
Not yet, anyway.
Travel restrictions are adding another layer of difficulty. Williamson described how certain fans face barriers tied to visa complications and political friction – factors that can strand supporters before they ever book a flight. Those restrictions don’t fall evenly; they tend to hit fans from particular countries harder than others.
The Ebola situation is drawing separate concern. While Williamson didn’t detail specific case counts in the NPR segment, the outbreak is on the radar of health officials and fans alike, adding a variable that tournament organizers haven’t had to manage in recent cycles.
Whether any of these pressures will visibly thin attendance at specific venues — or shift the television and streaming audience in ways broadcasters haven’t projected — isn’t clear yet. The tournament’s opening matches will offer the first real read on how many seats are filled and by whom.
What’s already apparent, Williamson told NPR, is that the promise of the biggest World Cup in history comes with an access problem baked in. The spectacle may be unprecedented in scale. The crowd that witnesses it in person will be shaped, in large part, by who can clear the financial and logistical bar to get through the gate.
NPR’s full conversation with Williamson, published Monday, June 9, is available at npr.org. Ticket availability and health guidance for the tournament hadn’t been updated as of that report.
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