Worchihan Zingkhai, a 40-year-old content creator from Manipur, delayed buying a $2,200–$2,500 laptop to fund a long-awaited World Cup journey—paying $140 per ticket after a first attempt slipped away and blaming high resale prices that turn the tournament int
When Worchihan Zingkhai finally boarded his World Cup trip, he knew it had required one big financial choice long before any ticket scan or boarding pass.
The 40-year-old content creator—who grew up in a village in Manipur, northeast India—had planned to buy a new laptop for video editing this year. The models he was eyeing cost between $2,200 and $2,500. But the World Cup trip would have to come first.
“However, I couldn’t afford both the laptop and the World Cup trip, so the laptop will have to wait,” he says.
For Zingkhai, the matchday dream goes back decades. He remembers staying awake until 3 a.m. in 1998 to watch his first World Cup, sharing one black-and-white TV with his entire village. People pooled money to buy fuel for a generator to power it.
Nearly 30 years later, he’s going to be there in person.
The journey reads like a test of patience and savings. Zingkhai says his village sits about 5,600 feet above sea level, and there isn’t an airport nearby. He’ll drive about six hours to Imphal, then fly to New Delhi, London, Washington, DC, and finally Atlanta. Altogether, the trip includes four flights and about 27 hours in the air.
It also depends on family support. Zingkhai says his father-in-law paid for flights from New Delhi to Washington, DC, and his wife’s family is helping with accommodations in the US. With that help, the journey becomes “much more affordable.” Without it, he says, the cost would be far out of reach.
In his area, he explains, people often earn about 500 rupees a day—roughly $5 to $6. That kind of income forces constant trade-offs. To make room for the World Cup, his family cut back on other purchases and avoided additional trips.
The ticket struggle was its own hurdle, and the first attempt left him feeling like the dream had already slipped away.
Zingkhai entered FIFA’s ticket sale in February with a budget of $350 per ticket. He says his dream was to watch Portugal, England, or Argentina. When he finally got into the system, he had only 15 minutes to buy. The Portugal tickets he wanted were priced between $450 and $650—beyond his budget. He spent too much time comparing options and lost his chance.
“I thought that was the end of my chance at the World Cup,” he says.
Then, in April, he got another opportunity.
This time, Zingkhai focused on finding a match he could afford rather than chasing the teams he wanted most. After waiting in the queue for several hours, he was able to buy tickets. He purchased two category-three tickets for Czech Republic versus South Africa in Atlanta for $140 each—one for him and one for his father-in-law.
Even with tickets secured, the financial pressure didn’t stop at checkout.
Zingkhai says what frustrates him most now is the resale market. He paid $140 for his ticket, but when he checked the resale platform a few weeks later, he saw nearby seats listed for about $560.
As a fan, that gap hurts. He describes it as “disappointing,” and points to the mismatch between a short buying window for genuine supporters and the longer runway resellers have to profit.
“People who genuinely want to attend have a short window to buy tickets, but resellers have much more time to profit from them,” he says.
He also believes some buyers treat tickets less like a chance to watch football and more like an investment. “I believe some people purchase tickets mainly to resell them rather than attend matches themselves,” he says.
For fans like him, the effect is straightforward: an event that was already expensive becomes even harder to reach once resale prices take over.
When Zingkhai finally gets to Atlanta, he will be carrying more than a ticket. He’ll be carrying the memory of a village that gathered around a single TV in 1998. the long drive from a high-altitude home to the first flight. and the decision to delay a laptop he needed for his work—because the matchday dream couldn’t wait.
World Cup FIFA ticket sale resale market content creator Manipur laptop purchase travel costs Atlanta Portugal Czech Republic vs South Africa fan affordability