NEW YORK – “F***ing Fifa – I get so angry when it’s all corrupted. The World Cup is about meeting people but now the tickets go up and up – I feel sorry for those people who paid.”
In the shade of the Rockefeller Center, this Swedish fan decked head-to-toe in yellow and blue knows he is an exception to the rule. He is one of the few supporters who won a ballot for $50 tickets, with free travel thrown in. It is one of a number of schemes from the office of Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s ubiquitous mayor, to combat Fifa greed at this tournament.
Across the United States, the World Cup faces an uneasy moment. In other host cities, including in Boston just along the coast, there is a feeling the party is wrapping up already. Fan zones are closing early due to high running costs, even with matches still to be played nearby.
In New York and New Jersey the best is still to come – on 19 July MetLife Stadium will host the final. Mamdani has already announced plans for a free watch party in Central Park, alongside fan zones in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island, where all the tickets are free.
A French supporter I meet has just paid upwards of $800 for a seat in the lower bowl for the round of 32. “They should have it in Europe all the time,” he insists. “Everything is too much here – even you buy a sandwich, why is there six pieces of ham? It’s too much.”
