Locked out of World Cup tickets—until family changes

A woman who once said she hated sports is now chasing World Cup tickets for 2026 in the United States—after her son dragged her into soccer. She’s tried multiple World Cup lotteries, including “exclusive” presales, without success, and is weighing higher-cost

For most of her life, she thought she hated sports.

Now she’s feverishly searching for World Cup tickets—and she’s doing it with the nagging fear that the only way in might be a second mortgage on her house. The quest doesn’t match the story people expect from her. especially those who know her from outside her new obsession. Her own answer to the confusion is simple: she isn’t chasing sports-ball. She’s chasing Philadelphia sports energy—then, somehow, she’s ended up wanting soccer’s biggest stage.

She grew up in Philadelphia, a city she says has arguably the most passionate fan base in the world. She can frequently be spotted in Eagles or Phillies gear. Like many Philadelphians. she has a huge crush on Gritty. the unhinged Flyers’ mascot who rose from the sewers beneath the city to become one of the most beloved—and perhaps most controversial—mascots on the planet. If someone sees her around town, she’s often mistaken for a sports fan.

But her loyalty used to stop at admiration. On the rare occasions she attends baseball games. she says she finds excuses to leave her seat and wander the stadium—and sometimes to leave early. She’s watched every Super Bowl the Eagles have played and even traveled to Philadelphia to celebrate a win with an epic Super Bowl parade. Still. she says she needs someone to explain the rules of football to her. because despite her ride-or-die loyalty to the Birds. she wasn’t interested enough to learn how the game is played.

That changed when her youngest son started playing soccer at school and became, in her words, a zealot.

At their first soccer match together—a DC United game in Washington, DC, where they now live—she expected boredom. She tried to feign excitement for his sake. Inside, she knew she would be incredibly bored. Instead, the experience hooked her almost immediately.

The stadium was much smaller than the enormous arenas she usually associates with major league sports. That meant she could see well and feel immersed in the action even from the cheap seats. There were fireworks at the start of the game and every time their team scored. and she loved the celebration with a spectacle usually reserved for the Fourth of July.

She also found soccer easier to follow than other sports. For someone with a relatively short attention span, she said she appreciated that the game is short at just 90 minutes. She liked the fans, too, especially supporters’ clubs at matches that make a lot of noise with drums.

Once she went to that first match, she says soccer quickly became a way of life.

Her son is on a travel team and plays several times a week. The first chapter book he read, The Academy by TZ Layton, was about soccer. She recently picked him up from school early so he could meet the author and get his books signed among throngs of other young soccer fans asking pointed questions about plays in the books.

She and her family travel frequently. and she says they visit soccer stadiums whenever and wherever they can to take tours and learn about the sport’s history. When the Club World Cup. a FIFA tournament to determine the world’s best men’s soccer team. was in the United States last summer. she traveled to Philadelphia to see her son’s favorite team. Real Madrid. She waited outside the hotel where the players were staying so her son could catch a glimpse of the players up close.

Then she watched the match all the way through—even during a torrential downpour—without minding a bit. She describes looking back on herself and not recognizing who she is. Who was this person who genuinely knows players. strategy. and the names of more than a few teams in the league?. In that moment, she says she understood why soccer is the world’s most popular sport.

And now, the World Cup fever.

As soon as her son and she learned that the United States would be hosting World Cup games in 2026. they were excited and determined to make it to at least one match. But her attempts haven’t worked. She has tried repeatedly to get tickets and failed. She struck out repeatedly in various World Cup lotteries, including several “exclusive” presales she could access with her credit card.

Still, she’s committed to finding a way to experience the World Cup with her son—not just for him. As a newly minted, bona fide soccer fan, she says she knows she will love the experience as well. And she believes her Philadelphia upbringing—with its sports fans who pride themselves on rioting whether they win or lose—has prepared her for any soccer hooligans she might encounter.

For now, the barrier is money and access. Resale prices are already a worry, and she’s hoping outrageously inflated resale prices drop as the World Cup draws closer—though she says that wasn’t her experience with the Eras Tour.

If she and her son can’t make it to an actual match. she says they’ll still enjoy the World Cup by going to watch parties and any other special events they can find. She also makes the trade-off plain: it won’t be the same. She doesn’t know what her next step will be, but she’s “in too deep to give up now.”.

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