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For football fans, the preparations for the FIFA World Cup have often been more frustrating and confusing than joy and excitement.
Faced with many problems – from expensive game tickets to basic amenities – fans have criticized the sport’s international governing body and local organizers in the three host countries: Canada, Mexico and the United States.
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Political disputes it has also become a major issue, following the US-Israeli attack on Iran that has led to a regional conflict and international crisis. The war has repeatedly raised questions about the US hosting the Iran games, but FIFA chief Gianni Infantino it has been confirmed that the Iran Melli Team will play. However, the Iranian authorities have asked the hosts of the World Cup to deal with their worries.
For fans who will be attending the tournament, which starts on June 11 and ends on July 19, or watching the 104 games around the world, here are the main talking points:
Free fan festivals bring relief
After nearly six months of expressing their anger at the “grab it” ticket prices for World Cup matches, local fans rushed to book their seats at the tournament’s official parties in the host cities.
While the unregulated stock market is strong trees in the US allowed tickets for the World Cup finals to be as high as $2m apiece – much to the chagrin of fans, politicians and football experts – the idea of other host cities to offer free access to fan festivals was seen as an immediate success.
Local festivals will give fans the chance to enjoy the match in a spectacular setting, with access to food, drink – and, in some places, free music – compared to expensive game tickets and higher travel costs to the venue.
In Toronto, the first batch of tickets to the official party sold out within four hours. The next 220,000 free admission tickets will be released on Friday, according to city officials.
Meanwhile, in New York City, all five boroughs will have free stadiums after the city’s football-loving mayor, Zohran Mamdani, announced that fans should not be asked to pay for such events.
In the nearby United States state of New Jersey, select games will be shown at Sports Illustrated Stadium, with tickets priced at $10.
The MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, known as the New York New Jersey Stadium for the World Cup, will host the final match on July 19.
Atlanta, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Mexico City and Vancouver are among the cities that offer free admission to fan festivals.
Los Angeles is paying $10 to join their official celebration at the LA Memorial Coliseum, while “free sections” have been set up in local communities in Los Angeles County, which is home to several communities from countries participating in the World Cup.
One last World Cup for fans of Panini stickers
The biggest competition of the World Cup is about to reach its bee with the Panini sticker book – a passion that has existed for thousands of years for football fans, who buy and sell stickers during the tournament to complete an album containing the stickers of the best players.
The beloved tradition of selling stickers, which range from $1.50 to thousands of US dollars for sought-after pieces, is gaining momentum after Italian company Panini released this year’s sticker book at the end of April.
With 48 countries going to the competition in June and July – the largest edition – 980 unique stickers, including 68 “special” will be needed to fill the 112-page album that will be available from Thursday.
The multi-generational hobby has been around since its inception in 1970, and marketing has moved to WhatsApp groups, using the hashtag “I have it, We want it” on social media, and meeting in public places to sell Panini stickers.
For many children, completing the record is a more cherished goal than their national team winning the World Cup, and parents, eager to please them, take it upon themselves to help them overcome that challenge.
An online TV video recently showed the children of Brazilian star Marquinho crying with joy as young Spanish star Lamine Yamal appeared as one of seven cards from a collection of Panini stickers.
FIFA ‘host city’ collection shirts have been criticized
Last week, FIFA released a limited-edition soccer jersey for each host city at a price of $375, a hefty sum that could compete with high-end and high-rise tickets, leaving fans disappointed but not too surprised.
Soccer fans have taken to social media to criticize FIFA and accuse the world’s governing body of being more interested in profiting from the World Cup than caring about what happens to you.
Each of the 16 host cities has its own shirt and, as part of the promotion, only 999 shirts are available in each city.
None of the four US jerseys released last week – in Kansas City, Boston, Seattle, and New York-New Jersey – have yet sold.
The bold colors and graphics don’t seem to be everyone’s cup of tea, with one social media user asking to be paid to wear the shirt instead of spending money on it. However, there are some who see them as a souvenir piece.
How will we watch the World Cup, ask Indian and Chinese fans
Millions of soccer fans in two of the world’s most populous countries I may not be able to watch it The World Cup due to the lack of broadcasting rights in India and no official decision on the broadcast of the tournament in China.
There has been no announcement of a deal in China, which FIFA says accounted for 49.8 percent of all viewing hours on digital and social platforms worldwide for the 2022 World Cup, as well as in India.
FIFA has agreements with broadcasters in at least 175 regions around the world, but it is unusual not to have a definitive agreement in India and China a month before the World Cup.
Some social media users appeared unconcerned about the possible suspension, citing illegal websites as their salvation, while others cited the timing of the games – some of which have started at midnight in Asia – as reason enough not to watch the competition.
Three opening ceremonies, many speeches
Another first for this year’s World Cup will be three opening ceremonies for each participating country instead of one main event.
Mexico City will kick off the tournament with the opening ceremony on June 11, just hours before the hosts face South Africa. The project will feature international music artists such as Alejandro Fernandez, J Balvin and Tyla, and fans will have “an active role in the show”, according to FIFA.
American singer Katy Perry will perform in the US edition, while Canadian icons Alanis Morissette and Michael Buble will headline the opening ceremony in their country.
South Korea’s Lisa is set to become the first female K-pop artist to take part in the opening ceremony of the National Committee – following in the footsteps of her male counterpart Jung Kook, who lit up the curtain at Qatar 2022 with his competition song, Believers.
The famous Colombian singer Shakira, whose song World Cup Waka Waka became famous around the world in 2010 and showed great interest in the pre-match games, revealed the song – called Dai Dai – for the 2026 tournament. But she was not named among the musicians of the opening ceremony.
