England fans to boycott World Cup as ‘disgraceful’ ticket prices revealed | Football | Sport

The outrageous ticket prices for England Supporters Travel Club members for the 2026 World Cup have sparked outrage. England fans face forking out thousands to follow the Three Lions across the United States next summer with the cheapest tickets to watch their second and third group games against Ghana and Panama priced at £164 ($220). The cheapest band of seats – the category 3 areas dubbed ‘supporter value’ by FIFA – for the opener against Croatia come in at £197 ($265).

By contrast, some England fans will need to pay £521 ($700) just to attend their Group L opener against the Croatians at Dallas Stadium, in Arlington, Texas. That’s the price of ‘supporter premier’ category 1 seats with ‘supporter standard’ category 2 views costing £372 ($500). And those tickets are not nearly as expensive as some of the knockout matches.

If Thomas Tuchel’s side go all the way to the quarter-finals, ESTC members will have to pay either £507 ($680), £756 ($1,015) or £1,073 ($1,440) for category one, two or three seats. The potential venue for that last-eight match will not be confirmed until England progress to the knockouts.

It only gets worse for the semi-finals in Atlanta or Dallas. Should England be in the final four then the minimum ticket price is a staggering £686 ($920) with the maximum over triple that at £2,364 ($3,170).

And Tuchel and co. make it all the way to final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, near New York City, category 3 tickets come in at £3,122 ($4,185), category 3 at £4,159 ($5,575) and category 1 at an eye-watering £6,475 ($8,680). By contrast, the most expensive Premier League season ticket comes in at £3,084 at Fulham, and gets you access to 18 matches across the campaign.

The average Premier League season ticket costs approximately £1,216. That is 82 per cent cheaper than the most expensive seat for the World Cup final.

And England fans face forking out thousands more on travel and accommodation if they want to travel with the team across the USA in the hope of watching Tuchel’s side bring football back home.

The prices are so high that some England away regulars are planning to boycott the tournament. @simonryder11 wrote on X: “Not missed a home game in 8 years, done the last 9 aways in a row. Won’t even be thinking about going to The States.” While @Tommy_Odlham1 replied: “The same boast as many others.”

The release of the prices was met with widespread fury. @bowbrookshrew wrote: “Pricing beyond ridicule. When you have regular fans giving this a swerve you know it’s bad. Completely scandalous!” While @DylanPUFC posted: “Yeah, no thanks, absolutely disgraceful prices. Roll on the Nations League and Euro 2028.”

Free Lions, the Football Supporters’ Association’s Fans’ Embassy service for travelling England fans, said in a statement: “We have been concerned about pricing for participating nations for months now and have been raising these concerns with Football Supporters Europe and our FA.

“The early trends were worrying and it is devastating to see those concerns turn reality with the release of England’s prices for the World Cup. ESTC members have followed England loyally throughout this campaign, from Barcelona to Belgrade, Riga to Tirana, multiple midweek trips to Wembley, as well as the caps built from the Euro 2024 campaign, all to back the team to make the World Cup.

“These prices are a slap in the face to supporters who support their team outside of the flagship tournament that appears every four years. To call the Category 3 tickets, the cheapest available to ESTC members, ‘Supporter Value Category 3’ that comes at a cost of $7020 if you want to follow England from start to finish, is laughable.

“A game for supporters, loyalty has been thrown out of the window and supporters of the participating nations have been completely let down.”