The 2026 World Cup, set to be the largest in history with 48 teams competing across three host countries, presents a unique challenge and opportunity. While the high-priced tickets and exclusive experiences may price out many fans, there is a chance to make this tournament more accessible to the masses through creative programming outside the stadiums.
As witnessed in previous World Cups, the true spirit of the event is often found in the spontaneous celebrations, fan festivals, and community gatherings that take place beyond the confines of the official matches. In Russia 2018, the host nation surprised visitors and locals alike with its welcoming atmosphere, as impromptu parties broke out across the country. In contrast, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar felt more like a “Potemkin” event, lacking the vibrant fan culture that is so integral to the tournament’s identity.
This realization offers hope for the upcoming World Cup. With the unprecedented scale of the 2026 edition, spread across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, there is an opportunity to create a “shadow World Cup” of sorts – a grassroots, lower-cost alternative that brings the tournament to the people. This could include fan festivals, open training sessions, and pre-tournament warm-up matches hosted in cities and communities across the host nations.
Many of the participating teams will be setting up training camps and holding open practices, providing easy access points for fans to engage with the World Cup experience. Locations such as Wake Forest University in North Carolina, Boise, Kansas City, and even smaller cities like Birmingham, Alabama, and Stillwater, Oklahoma, are rumoured to be hosting national teams, expanding the tournament’s footprint significantly.
Furthermore, the “Road to ’26” series of pre-tournament friendlies will see top teams like Brazil, France, Argentina, and the United States playing matches across the East Coast and Midwest, offering more opportunities for fans to witness World Cup-calibre action.
While the official fan festivals in host cities like New York and New Jersey may come with a price tag, many others are expected to be free, allowing the public to soak in the World Cup atmosphere without the hefty price tag. Initiatives like the Rockefeller Center festival in New York and the watch parties promised by Mayor Zohran Mamdani further demonstrate the potential to make this World Cup accessible to the masses.
If the host cities, national federations, and US Soccer work together creatively, this edition of the World Cup can still leave a lasting legacy and create memories for far more than just the lucky few who manage to secure tickets to the matches. After all, FIFA can’t monetize everything, and there is an opportunity to bring the spirit of the World Cup to the people.
