When Ty Malugani in Alabama learned the World Cup would be in North America, he was ecstatic. He pictured taking his four young children to their first World Cup — a chance to share the sport he loves with the next generation. The U.S., Mexico and Canada will co-host the tournament beginning in mid-June.
That excitement evaporated. Ticket prices were the first blow: the cheapest match involving the U.S. would cost his family nearly $1,600 for nosebleed seats, and attending the U.S. opener would top $6,700. Then came frustrations with FIFA’s ticketing system — lotteries, confusing seating categories and hard-to-understand rules.
The decision that pushed Malugani over the edge was FIFA awarding President Trump the new FIFA Peace Prize, honoring those “who have helped unite people all over the world in peace.” To Malugani, it signaled FIFA was prioritizing appeasing powerful figures over serving fans.
“It felt very much like we’re not going to care about the fans, or the event itself,” he says. “We’re not going to care about anything other than trying to appease this one person in the hopes that they may benefit FIFA in some way.”
With weeks to go before kickoff, Malugani is among a growing number of fans from the U.S. and abroad who say they’re so fed up — with FIFA, with U.S. policy or both — that they plan to skip the tournament. FIFA counters that demand is “unprecedented,” citing millions of ticket requests and the star power of players such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
But signs suggest interest may be softer than officials expect, at least early on. Jan Freitag, who analyzes hospitality trends as National Director for CoStar Group, says he still expects demand to rise for the knockout rounds and final in July. Still, he notes bookings in the tournament’s first half have been weaker than anticipated, blaming a mix of factors: ongoing global conflicts, high airfares, steep ticket prices and the lower appeal of some group-stage matchups.
Hotels are also reporting lower-than-expected bookings. Rosanna Maietta of the American Hotel & Lodging Association says FIFA canceled a large block of rooms in some host cities. While overbooking is common around major tournaments, the scale of cancellations surprised hoteliers and reduced the early wave of occupancy they had budgeted for. Overseas bookings, in particular, have been underwhelming, she says, leaving hoteliers unsure of how the numbers will look once the games begin.
Some potential visitors are deterred by U.S. policy changes and security concerns. Kieran Maguire, a Liverpool-based professor and long-time soccer fan, has attended past World Cups but says he won’t travel to this one. He cites new rules that allow immigration officers to scrutinize social media histories for some visa applicants — rules that could extend to people from visa-waiver countries — and travel bans or restrictions the White House has imposed on about three dozen countries, including four whose national teams are competing.
Maguire also points to recent violent incidents involving ICE agents in U.S. cities, including fatal shootings, and says measures he sees as repressive have made him wary about visiting.
The White House pushed back against criticism, calling the 2026 World Cup poised to be “one of the greatest and most spectacular events in the history of mankind.” A White House spokesman said President Trump is focused on ensuring the event is “an incredible experience for all fans and visitors” and “the safest and most secure in history.”
But for fans like Malugani, the decision to stay home is personal. Beyond the financial hit, his greatest disappointment is that his children won’t experience the tournament in person. He had hoped they’d grow up loving soccer as he did. Now he feels the event has drifted away from ordinary fans.
“That to me is the worst,” he says. “Because I love the sport and I want future generations to love the sport. Hopefully things can turn around and maybe work out. But as of right now, it just feels like it’s a missed opportunity.”