Four years ago I posted some patriotic soccer memes and talked a little bit about the ethical controversies surrounding the previous three hosts. The main focus was the creation and abandonment of stadiums built by migrant laborers to support a single sporting event. I wrapped things up with an endorsement of the multi-host model and listed the modern, already-built stadiums designated to host the now-imminent Canada/Mexico/US World Cup. Unfortunately, with a sidelong glance at 2018 host Russia, I said this:

Me	It's tough to find a modern government free from the taint of evil, but that doesn't mean FIFA can't draw the line at "no large scale military invasions or state-sanctioned slavery".

Now, to be clear, as of January 13, 2026 Donald Trump has not ordered the invasion of Greenland. He has taken a foreign despot prisoner and appears to be pursuing an equitable trial by jury. He has conducted an airstrike on Iran's nuclear infrastructure. And he has supported a variety of Israeli operations in the Middle East. So while we're not currently at the "large scale military invasions" point, the choice for the 2026 FIFA Peace Prize was perhaps a bit optimistic. It is difficult to determine if the Greenland overtures are legitimate or just a way to crowd out Epstein news, but they're enough to pre-taint the legacy of the first ever US Men's National Team World Cup victory.

Yes, that last sentence was the signal that I'm transitioning from heavier topics into fun stuff like ticket-buying snafus and memery such as, "The US is going to win the 2026 World Cup. Of soccer."

My last World Cup ticket draw experience didn't go very well but worked out in the end. This year's campaign is off to a rocky start with two rounds of unsuccessfully entering the FIFA draws. So yesterday, with the final draw ending the following morning, I grabbed a US Soccer supporter code and put in for some matches. Happily, the US is playing its group stage on the west coast (LA and Seattle).

Possible opponents: Italy, Northern Ireland, Wales, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Our third opponent is TBD but with Australia (rank 26) and Paraguay (39) in our (14) group and 2+ teams making the round of 32, we might make it out of the group stage.

Retail prices for the final. The internet says the average Super Bowl ticket is $10k.

Retail ticket prices have been a spicy issue since the purchase window opened. Premium tier seats for the US matches shown above were about $600 and $900, where the latter is in an elimination round. Now for the controversial take: World Cup ticket prices are not that bad.

Yes, okay, I like money and spending less of it on sporting events means I have more, but hear me out...

Ticket prices in 2014.

Twelve years ago, before post-pandemic global inflation, in a less-accessible and less-affluent country, ticket prices for group stage matches that were nowhere near Brasilia or Rio cost $350/$2??/$180. So while (to no one's surprise) FIFA may well be squeezing fans and not be honoring their commitment to make soccer accessible to everyone, I'm not suffering the same sticker shock as the local news anchors.

The US opener is unnecessarily expensive though.

Source.

The seating categories are a bit ridiculous though. The priciest seats might land you at field level or maybe two decks up. You could be behind a goal. Category 2 puts you in the nosebleeds or maybe just below the nosebleeds behind a goal or above a corner flag. Category 3 is diminishingly small and Category 4 only exists so FIFA can claim they offer $60 seats.

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