By
Adam Elder,
a writer covering sports and culture
Last week, FIFA announced that the 2026 World Cup had already broken the all-time attendance record for the tournament. Though this may be a bit less impressive than it seems — an expanded field means many more games this year than in previous editions — the feat was still surprising to many who’d been paying attention. Talk of ridiculous ticket prices, the potential presence of ICE, the dangerous heat and, more recently, President Trump’s war with Iran dominated previews of this year’s 48-team tournament co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico. But it’s been a smooth logistical ride so far, and a hell of a spectacle on the field: this World Cup is on track to be the highest-scoring per match in history.
Neither the good vibes nor the results on the field thus far are a surprise to Stefan Szymanski, who knows his World Cup history. He is the co-author of the 2009 international best-selling book Soccernomics, which took a fun, deep dive into the economic forces that create winners and losers in the world’s most popular sport. (it was cited recently by Mayor Mamdani in a BBC interview.) Szymanski, a professor emeritus at the University of Michigan, recently updated his classic book, and currently hosts The Soccernomics Podcast with his co-author, Simon Kuper and Ashish Malhotra.
