South African football fans face a challenging and expensive journey to the 2026 Fifa World Cup, according to expert number crunchers, with an average total cost of R35,812 per attendee.
Fans need to secure a pricey flight ticket, factor in lengthy travel time, visa costs, and game ticket expenses.
Experts at GIGAcalculator have ranked the competing nations by “the true cost” for fans attending the World Cup group stage matches.
South Africa emerged at the top of the rankings, scoring 9.53 out of 10. South African fans face an average return flight cost of R27,053, an average flight time of 19.3 hours and R8,759 in costs, bringing their total outlay to R35,812.
Fans of Côte d’Ivoire, ranked third with 8.86, face the highest absolute cost of any nation. With fixtures in Philadelphia and Toronto, supporters must obtain both a US visa (R7,778) and a Canadian visa (R2,372). Combined with their average return flight costs of R28,781, total expenditure reaches R38,911 per supporter attending all three group games.
Average return flight costs and flight durations were gathered for the dates covering the World Cup group stages using Google Flights, departing from each nation’s primary international air hub to the most accessible airport for each fixture. Costs and duration were averaged across all three group stage matches per country to produce a single average return flight cost and average flight duration per nation.
Qatar ranks seventh despite the fact that nationals travelling to the US require only an Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (Esta) costing R711, rather than a full visa, keeping entry costs to a minimum. However, average return flights of R26,274 are among the highest in the study, pushing Qatar’s total to R27,087 and placing the 2022 World Cup hosts seventh out of all competing nations.
Esta is an automated system that determines the eligibility of visitors to travel to the US under the Visa Waiver Programme. US Customs and Border Protection says authorisation via Esta does not determine whether a traveller is admissible to the US, but rather helps officers to determine admissibility upon travellers’ arrival.
Argentina ranks sixth despite the tournament being held in North America. With their fixtures in Kansas City and Dallas, the defending champions’ fans face average return flight costs of R28,409, producing a total outlay of R35,287.
South Korea ranks 11th despite no entry costs required. All three South Korean fixtures are in Mexico, where Korean passport holders require no visa and pay no travel authorisation fee. Despite this, average return flight costs of R26,122, paired with the 15 hours spent flying means the nation has among the most gruelling journeys for fans.
Iran and Haiti were excluded from the rankings, due to travel restrictions.
Affordable, quick, and hassle-free travel.
The study found that European nations occupy the bottom of the rankings across the board, benefiting from low entry costs, shorter flight times, and competitive airfares to North America.
France (38th, R12,281 total) is the least gruelling journey, scoring just 2.99 out of 10. With all three games on the US east coast and entry costs demanding just R711 Esta fees , a French fan can attend the entire group stage for less than the cost of a single South African fan’s flight to Mexico City.
Norway (37th, R12,045 total) edges France on total cost, with all three fixtures in Boston and New York keeping travel simple and costs low.
England (36th, R14,450 total) pays the highest average flight cost of the bottom five at R13,738, but entry costs of just R711 keep their total well below the study average.
Colombia (35th, R17,804 total) are the standout entry in the bottom five. With two fixtures in Mexico, they benefit from the shortest average flight time in the entire study at 4.2 hours. However, a third fixture in Miami triggers a full US visa fee of R7,778, which alone accounts for 44% of their total spend.
Germany (34th, R11,858 total) records the second lowest total cost in the study despite fixtures in Houston, Toronto, and New York, paying just R813 in combined entry fees.
TimesLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.