2026 World Cup breaks attendance record despite US travel mess

The 2026 FIFA World Cup has officially become the best-attended tournament in history, surpassing the record set when the US last hosted the competition in 1994. But the milestone comes amid growing criticism over skyrocketing ticket prices, visa restrictions and organizational problems that have overshadowed parts of the tournament.

FIFA confirmed the new record during Germany’s Group E will face Ecuador at the MetLife Stadium, where attendance after the opening 56 games exceeded 3,605,357. This eclipsed the previous mark of 3.587 million viewers set in the US in 1994.

FIFA World Cup 2026: Update

While the tournament has expanded from 52 games in 1994 to 104 this year, the appetite for football has remained relentless. Stadiums are averaging more than 99 percent occupancy and with 48 games remaining, the final attendance is expected to climb well above four million.

For weeks, the World Cup has attracted criticism off the pitch, yet the atmosphere in the stadiums has rarely reflected that negativity. The fans continued to fill the seats, turning every major game into a spectacle despite the noise off the pitch.

The milestone was reached in front of another sell-out crowd of more than 80,000 in New Jersey as Ecuador stunned Germany to reach the knockout stages. A single-day attendance record was also set earlier in the tournament on 16 June, with more than 281,000 fans watching four matches across the three host countries.

BUT QUESTIONS REMAIN

The record turnout did little to quell the concerns surrounding the tournament.

FIFA’s dynamic pricing model has sent ticket prices for several high-profile matches into the thousands of dollars, leaving many traditional supporters without prices. Stricter visa policies and travel restrictions in the United States reportedly affected fans from several countries, particularly from Africa and the Middle East, who sought to obtain permits to attend.

Some host cities also fell short of the tourism boom they expected after skyrocketing hotel prices discouraged visitors from extending their stay.

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Issued by:

Debodinna Chakraborty

Published on:

Jun 26, 2026 05:44 IST