England fans have endured a longer wait than most nations to see their side take the field at the 2026 World Cup in the United States.
Six days after the tournament kicked off, the Three Lions finally begin their campaign against Croatia at Dallas Stadium on Wednesday evening.
The United Kingdom Football Policing Unit has estimated that between 12,000 and 15,000 England supporters are expected to attend each of England’s group stage fixtures.
The UKFPU also confirmed that fans from England have purchased 89,000 World Cup tickets across all 104 matches, though most supporters will attend more than one game.
The official England Supporters’ Travel Club sold its full allocation of 4,022 tickets, though some have controversially appeared on Fifa’s resale platform at heavily inflated prices.
Ticket costs have been a flashpoint since the outset, with one England fan describing the pricing as a “betrayal” when ESTC sales opened back in December.
While Qatar group stage tickets were priced at £68.50, £164.50 and £219, Wednesday’s game against Croatia went on sale at £198, £373 or £523 per seat.
The cheapest resale ticket in category one has remained stubbornly fixed at around £1,310, while lower category prices have actually risen since April.
A category two ticket that cost £874 in April now fetches £1,254, and a category three seat has jumped from £682 to £1,311 on the official Fifa resale site.
Most shockingly, a ‘supporter standard’ ticket apparently sold to an ESTC member appeared on the resale site at an asking price of £3,192, rising to £3,671 once Fifa’s 15% buyer fee is added on top.
That figure represents almost ten times the £380 face value originally paid for the ticket, drawing widespread anger from supporters already stretched by travel and accommodation costs.
Thomas Concannon, who leads the Football Supporters’ Association’s England fans’ group, told BBC Sport in April that many supporters were holding on hoping prices would fall.
The number of available resale listings has dropped sharply from 984 on Friday to just 293 by Tuesday, suggesting the market has not softened as fans had hoped.
Supporters who made the trip to Dallas have been candid about the financial strain of attending the tournament despite their enthusiasm for the occasion.
“There’s eight of us that are all together and we paid about £850 for a ticket each,” said one fan named Michael, speaking outside a bar in the city.
“That is a lot of money, you can get a season ticket for that,” he added, noting that several members of their original group had been priced out entirely.
Michael also highlighted the cost of matchday expenses inside the stadium, saying: “I hear stories about the stadiums and it’s $20 a beer, and food is more than $30.”
“It does feel like you are getting gouged. But it’s the World Cup,” he said, before expressing hope that 2030 would bring a return to more reasonable pricing.
Two fans from Newcastle, Guy and James, arrived on Saturday only to discover their hotel reservation had been cancelled and their tickets had fallen through entirely.
“We’ve not got tickets but obviously we were still coming out,” James said, adding they planned to watch the game in fan zones and bars alongside fellow England supporters.
Guy said the pair would attempt to source tickets but admitted “the hope is slim to none,” with a budget of £400 to £500 if a deal could be found.
Another supporter named Ian voiced concern about the wider picture, saying: “It’s a shame because it’s the people’s game and I feel like 80 to 90% of people are priced out of the games.”
“I really hope it doesn’t set a precedent going forward,” Ian added, reflecting a sentiment shared widely among England’s travelling support ahead of their long-awaited opener.
