
You want to go to the FIFA World Cup but have no concept on costs and planning? This page is for you.
Below is an infographic that illustrates our cost breakdown for 2018 and if you scroll below the image, you will find some additional advice and comments as well.

In general, I find that $3,000 – $4,000 USD is plenty to attend for 2 weeks for one person (for me). Of course, it depends on whether or not you can get free or discounted flights through frequent flyer programs, can stay for free through a friend/host and what your personal preferences are. I could have easily stayed in a hostel for $9/night in Russia but I preferred to sleep in luxury (i.e. my own room and shower at a clean and safe facility).
From a budgeting perspective, I put $100 every month to an online savings account so that at every 4 year cycle, I have roughly $5,000 and this is more than enough for my goals (7-12 days in the country to explore at least 2 cities, attend a couple matches, and allow room for the everyday randomness of people and experiences).
Full Disclosure: I used Delta Skymiles for the 2010, 2014 and 2018 tournaments and spent between $2,000 – $3,500 total in everything else. In 2006, I paid for my flight with a credit card but saved on accommodation by crashing on a friend’s floor for a few nights and cramming 3 people into a 1 bed/1 bath room for the rest of the trip. I spent under $2,000 for everything, including the nonstop flight from USA to Germany.
Like anything – we break the costs into buckets:
International Travel
How are you going to get from your hometown to the host country? Can you use points/rewards or do you have to purchase at full price?
In my 4 World Cups, I’ve always used airline points. That said, the full-price of my flight had I not been so lucky would have cost between $900 – $1500 per person (Note: your itinerary can have dramatic impact to the price)
Domestic Travel
Once you arrive to your host country, how will you travel domestically?
In Germany, I purchased a Eurorail pass and rode subways and hitched car-rides. South Africa was domestic flights, taxis, buses and hitching rides in cars. Brazil was domestic flights, taxis, metro and buses. Russia was all trains, subways and taxis.
Match Tickets
Ticket prices have increased every tournament and the lowest tickets for Russia 2018 were priced at $105 USD. Tickets do vary based on round and category.
Looking for more info about ticket prices and acquisition? Visit our detailed article on the topic!
Lodging
This is the expense with the biggest variation. It all depends on your style. Please note that everything is going to be in high demand and the best places will be booked out 4 to 6 months in advance! I try to have my lodging planned 3-4 months before I leave.
The best place I had was my friend’s floor in Munich. Cost = FREE. I have also paid up to $300 (USD) per night for basic living. Brazil was easily the most expensive but all other tournaments, I have been able to find options for $120 or so per night.
Miscellaneous (Food, Merchandise, Entertainment, etc)
Be as cheap or generous as you’d like! I found that I average about $50 per day for museum tickets, food, drinks, etc when I travel. Some days I eat nicely and go out for drinks while other days were spent consuming stadium food and on public transportation.
Thank You
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10 thoughts on “How Much $ Do You Need to Attend a World Cup?”
Congratulations to Qatar World Cup 2022 Tournaments for the hard workings before November.Please send me more informations on this Qatar’s World Cup. God bless
Hello! You can find our articles on Qatar 2022 here:
https://www.theworldcupguide.com/tag/qatar-2022/
And then qatar2022.qa is also the official resource.
Great site! I’m going to the Qatar WC. How did you get tickets for the WC? I heard that they are extremely difficult to get and that you can only get the through FIFA. Is this true?
Hi Arthur! Thanks for the compliment about the site and checking us out! Fantastic to hear you’ll be in Qatar next year. Getting tickets can be extremely difficult. We have always gotten them through FIFAs official allocation process. If you have flexibility then it is much easier than you may believe as the first phase is all based on times and stadiums where teams are unknown and most people wait until teams are known and assigned to groups. You should checkout our page on Ticket Acquisition for various methods of getting tickets. It has all the info we could offer. If there’s a follow up or something that wasn’t quite clear, please respond back! Good luck and hopefully you get to at least 1 game!
Thank you very much for your reply! You were very helpful!
I’m completely overwhelmed by the thought of attending world cup in America. I’m from Africa, and never travelled outside my country is birth which is Lesotho. But I’m saving for 2026 World cup. Can you advice. I’m so terrified by the conversions of US dollar to South Africa Rands.
Hello! Thanks for your inquiry and excited to hear you are planning your first trip from Lesotho to be one to witness a World Cup! Tips for you now: start saving. Go ahead and look up costs of flights now and have an idea so you know how much it will be. One thing to remember with flights is flexibility helps keep costs low. With sites like Google Flights or Skyscanner, you can find flights that have long layovers, overnight, etc. Additionally, you can look at flying to cities near the hosts (still undecided) and either drive or take a bus (bus is cheap). For example, if you flew to Charlotte to attend a game in Atlanta, you can take a bus for very little money to make it from one city to the next (4-5 hr trip) if going directly to Atlanta is peak pricing if the city hosts a game. For lodging, the US has ample accommodations and again, if you are flexible and stay outside the main city center, you’ll save. Many potential host cities will have a form of public transportation to stadiums so instead of staying right in vicinity and instead further away, you’ll save. For example, in 2010, I stayed in a hotel in Pretoria to attend games in Johannesburg bc it was cheaper. And I took a train to and from the locations. For 2026, many Americans will also offer Airbnb room rentals for low costs too. Standard hostels will be available but likely hard to book. Those two expenses will be the majority of the money needed. Hope this helps get you started on how to determine an estimate cost and what you’ll need just to travel and have a place to stay. Fee free to contact us directly as well if we can help further.
I’m starting to plan and save now. 5 years doing the $100 a month plan. Connect with me Mamaruping if you need any local US city advice!
Awesome, Shawn!! Hopefully the plan reaps many rewards and experiences!
Hi and how are you? Keep me posted on tips planpilfering for the 2026 World cup.