With the 2026 World Cup coming up on June 11 in the host countries of Mexico, the U.S., and Canada, many cities across North America have been busy preparing for the wave of over 6-6.5 million fans coming to watch the game, according to the FIFA organization. However, the recent fight against immigration in the U.S. has left many concerned on whether they will be able to attend the games in the states.
The U.S. government has put travel bans or heavy restrictions on dozens of countries, making it almost impossible for people from those places to get a visa. While the actual players and coaches from countries like Iran, Senegal, and Haiti are allowed in to play the games, their fans are being left behind.
The FIFA president Gianni Infantino stated that “everyone will be welcome” and promised a “smooth” immigration process, but even fans from countries that aren’t banned are stuck waiting for a visa. In some places, the wait time for a visa interview is nearly a year. FIFA tried to fix this with a special express pass for ticket holders, but it doesn’t work for people from the blacklisted countries.
Because of this, many international fans are skipping the U.S. games entirely and only going to matches in Canada or Mexico, where it’s much easier to get in. This has led to a lag in ticket sales throughout the 16 different host cities in the U.S.
