Less than a year now until the 2026 World Cup in the US, and I am determined to see at least one game in person. And the first opportunity for purchasing tickets is coming up. I entered the "Visa Presale Draw" today. And in this convoluted process, if you are successful in the draw then you aren't even guaranteed to be able to get a ticket for the game or games of your choosing. Instead you will be provided a timeslot for when you can purchase tickets. With the extreme caveat of "subject to availability", plus I'm sure some other conditions. Of course, I think thousands if not millions of people will be entering this draw - so I think my chances of being selected are slim to none. All of this seems very strange when the World Cup draw hasn't even been made yet, so no one knows which countries will be playing in which games. All I know is that there a couple of knockout games being held in Seattle, which I think are my first choice of games to go to. My second choice, which may involve flying to a different city, is to see England play. My third, and final, choice is to see a group game in Seattle. There will be more opportunities to buy tickets - but with dynamic pricing in place for the World Cup, things could start to get very expensive. And I worry about demand and how tough it might be to get a ticket for a meaningful game. Of course, what the World Cup has really become about is making profit for the evil and corrupt cabal that is FIFA - at the cost to the quality of the game (as highlighted by the expansion of the tournament, without any consideration to player burnout and likely resulting in a whole bunch more of crappy games - which will probably be one of the games I end up watching).
