Here is one way to think about the concession prices at World Cup games that might make them feel less, well, extortionate.
If you consider that the face-value of a ticket to, say, Canada’s opening game in Toronto against Bosnia-Herzegovina was about $1,100 even for a cheap seat, then the cost of a pair of hot dogs and soft drinks at that game was a mere five per cent of the admission to the stadium. For a whole meal!
The Guardian is serving this up
A little something to provide incentive for supporting Team Canada.
Yup. This is life in Canada 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/foYlmIyy9H
— 🇨🇦 Antonio Tweets (@AntonioTweets2) June 18, 2026
A widely circulated video from Algeria’s opening World Cup match against Argentina shows an Algerian supporter urinating inside the stands at Kansas City Stadium. He then appears to boast about the act, asserting that he would face no consequences in the United States.
CAUGHT ON CAMERA: An Algerian fan urinating in the stands at Kansas City Stadium during Algeria vs Argentina, World Cup 2026, while reportedly boasting he had nothing to fear.
FIFA takes a zero-tolerance policy on stadium misconduct.
Feel free to follow my account for more… pic.twitter.com/uqggTCyCW8
— MenaNews24 (@menaanews24) June 17, 2026
Fans of Argentina and Algeria national teams had an epic fight in New York.
The clashes took place at Times Square square ahead of the teams’ match at the World Cup.
📽️Noelia Belén Izarza pic.twitter.com/sjbajUadAt
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) June 16, 2026
Yeah, but the mayor keeps her hardcore voting base happy, and that's all that matters. https://t.co/JjHJnGaEo9
— Patti Jo (@TheSupeHero) June 17, 2026
h/t Patti Jo
If there was ever a case of the emperor having no clothes, it comes in the orgiastic celebration of the FIFA Men’s World Cup by the political, business and sporting elites in Canada promoting it, versus the views or ordinary citizens paying for it.
While Canada’s first ever World Cup point on Friday by tying Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-1 in Toronto was no doubt thrilling to soccer fans, far more Canadians question whether the $82-million cost to taxpayers for staging that one game was worth it.
From the Guardian …
Vancouver’s World Cup has come with a supercharged policing campaign, residents say
It really is a scam ….
Empty seats at Canada’s opening World Cup match after ticket price controversy
As excitement builds around the world for this year’s FIFA World Cup tournament, residents and small businesses in Canada’s host cities are bracing for daily disruptions that range from inconvenient to possibly dangerous.
Sixteen cities across Canada, Mexico and the U.S. are co-hosting the global soccer tournament. Canada’s cities — Vancouver and Toronto — are home to a combined 13 games, including Team Canada’s opener on Friday.
But as soccer fans descend on Canada’s host cities, residents and community groups are bracing for the complications associated with major events like the FIFA World Cup or the Olympics.
VANCOUVER – Noah Reitman regularly rents out the top floor of his Vancouver home through Airbnb, and he, like many in Vancouver, figured demand during the World Cup would be off the charts.
“We thought, ‘oh, this will be a great opportunity for sure to make some extra cash,’” Reitman said.
But after initially significantly raising his asking price, Reitman dropped it back down, and most of his June bookings, he says, have nothing to do with soccer.
I can only speak to experience of Toronto as I live here.
TO is dirty, expensive with dicey public transit and normalized traffic chaos.
Mass immigration gives this decaying city a fetid 3rd World vibe.
That makes Toronto a perfect venue for the scam they call the World Cup, they deserve each other.
Can’t afford World Cup tickets? Blame Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow because she and the City of Toronto are part of the problem.
Scalpers drive up ticket prices for any event, and the city has been acting as a scalper for the last year when it comes to the World Cup.
It can be easy to forget that FIFA, the international governing body for soccer, is a non-profit organization.
It is especially easy to forget this fact given that the 2026 World Cup, about to be held in Canada, the United States and Mexico, has become synonymous with avarice and greed, and the shameless gouging of soccer fans from around the globe.
It does not feel as if the biggest sporting event on the planet is about to get underway in Canada. Blame staggering ticket prices, FIFA’s tyrannical resale rules and an unglamorous slate of matches in Toronto and Vancouver — Canada’s participation in three notwithstanding.
Thousands of tickets to the opening game in Toronto remain unsold, and not a single match in either city has sold out. This was predictable, given that top-tier tickets for Canada’s opening match against Bosnia and Herzegovina start at $3,000, and those for other matches in both cities start around $600.
I love the game, played it all through my youth but I would never vote to let FIFA pick my pocket.
Toronto’s Grandees had the city’s bureaucrats literally sneak the World Cup in under the eyes of voters.
Someone is getting paid and it ain’t you and it ain’t me.
The World Cup like tax payer subsidized professional sports stadiums are about making rich people richer with your money.
Multicultural pride surges in Canada as the World Cup approaches
It was the kind of pitch-perfect evening amateur soccer players and their parents dream of all winter. Months of withering brutal weather gave way to soccer abandon on the turf, as two of Ottawa’s best junior teams clashed in the sunlight.
Watching on the sidelines was Nathaniel Salhani, a soccer-obsessed 8-year-old who could not wait to get the words out when asked if he was excited about Canada hosting the World Cup.
“I’m going to the Canada, Ireland soccer game!” he beamed.
This week, FIFA announced a change to its World Cup code of conduct. From now on, refillable water bottles will not be permitted in stadiums. It’s a safety issue, apparently. It doesn’t trust that you savages won’t chuck them at the refs. Stay tuned for upcoming bans on belt buckles, phones, shoes and loud voices.
This water-bottle news dropped at the same time as the medium-range weather forecast. Canada’s opener in Toronto next Friday – kickoff is at 3 p.m. ET – is likely to start in temperatures cresting 30 C.
After spending more than a billion dollars for 13 World Cup games, Canada’s two host cities should have a frank discussion about how these kind of mega-tournaments are best paid for in the future, the head of Toronto’s host authority says.
Sharon Bollenbach, executive director of the FIFA World Cup 2026 for the City of Toronto, acknowledged the combined municipal, provincial and federal spending for the marquee tournament has given some people sticker shock. It’s expected to cost around $380-million to host six games in Toronto. In Vancouver, hosting costs could top $700-million.
Fifa has been accused of working with unofficial resale platforms in an effort to sell tickets for low-demand World Cup games to avoid compensation claims from supporters who have already paid face value for matches.
Florian Ederer, an economics professor at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, has identified how huge swathes of tickets have appeared on the resale site, SeatGeek, for Saudi Arabia’s group encounter with Cape Verde in Houston on June 27.
What a racket. I believe Toronto’s participation was a major reason Tory chose not to run.
The price of tickets has turned the World Cup into an elite spectacle and data shows just how costly tickets are for residents of the host cities.
While World Cup tickets are a hot commodity in many of the 16 host cities across North America, local economic disparities mean at least some fans would have to fork over weeks — or months — of disposable income just to attend a match.
