How much would it cost a Kenyan football fan travelling from Nairobi to America to watch the 2026 Fifa World Cup? It could run into millions of shillings.
For starters, the fan must first acquire a match ticket. Fifa started selling World Cup tickets in September, 2025. By March this year, Fifa revealed it had sold nearly two million tickets in the first two sales phases, with fans oversubscribing 30 times despite the eye-popping prices.
For instance, the price of a Category One ticket for the Brazil v Morocco match at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey was $4,800 (Sh621,168) at the end of May, while a Category One ticket for the opening match between Mexico and South Africa was listed as $4,549 (Sh588,686).
The last minute sales phase of the tickets began on April 1, 2026, and will continue until the end of the tournament on July 19. Fifa says tickets are sold on a first-come, first-served basis, with purchases processed in real-time and confirmed immediately upon successful payment.
A Category One ticket for the Norway versus Senegal match at MetLife Stadium on June 22 costs $1,800 (Sh232,938), a Category Two $500 (Sh64,705) and a Category Three $460 (Sh59,528). Prices, however, keep changing depending on demand. A fan must also acquire a US visa.
The application fee for this is $185 (Sh23,940). Air travel costs will set you back close to Sh300,000. A flight on Kenya Airways from Nairobi to New York was costing Sh270,000 last week. Qatar Airlines, Emirates Air and Brussels Air, by comparison, were less by about Sh40,000. From John F. Kennedy International Airport to, say, Newark in New Jersey by Uber would cost about $180 (Sh23,293), maybe less if demand is low.
Accommodation is anything but cheap in America. Hotel prices range from $300 (Sh38,823) per night at the minimum. An Airbnb for three nights may cost at least $450 (Sh58,234).
US-based Kenyan football fan Ng'ang'a Njenga with a friend at the Los Angeles Stadium for the Group 'B' match between Switzerland and Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 18, 2026. Njenga bought tickets for six World Cup matches. Pool
Photo credit: Pool
Food and travel costs also have to be factored in. On average, you would need to pay $20 (Sh2,588) for a meal. A Kenyan fan would need at least $5,000 (Sh647,050) for a one-match, three-day stay in New York.
A Kenyan football fan based in the US, Dr Ng’ang’a Njenga, has told Nation Sports he has so far spent $2,230 (about Sh288,450) to purchase tickets for six 2026 Fifa World Cup games.
Njenga, a psychiatrist based in Seattle, watched the Group “G” match between Egypt and Belgium in Seattle on June 15, and the Group “B” match featuring Bosnia and Herzegovina against Switzerland at Los Angeles Stadium on Thursday. He was due to watch Paraguay tackle Turkiye in a Group ‘D’ match at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium last evening.
“I bought tickets through the Fifa website. These are the cheapest I could get,” says Njenga, an avid football fan who has been living in USA for the last 27 years.
Tickets for the match between Egypt and Belgium, and that between Qatar and Switzerland cost him $400 (Sh51,788) each. He spent $300 (Sh38,841) on the Paraguay v Turkiye ticket, and $350 (Sh45,314) on the New Zealand versus Belgium tickets.
The cheapest ticket he bought happens to be the one for the match between Algeria and Jordan on June 22 in San Francisco, and it cost him $180 (Sh23,304) . His most expensive ticket is for a round of 32 match at Seattle Stadium on July 1 that has cost him $600 (Sh77,682).
“I have spent more than $2,000 on tickets alone. Then there is the cost of travelling. I would have wanted to watch some of the big matches involving the top teams but the tickets are just too expensive. I tried to get a ticket for the match between USA and Australia in Seattle on June 17 but it was priced at $2,031 (Sh262,954). This World Cup is just too expensive. The genuine fans are suffering,” the mental health specialist lamented.
Njenga also said that he had bought the tickets through the Fifa online system. He first acquired the right to buy a ticket but at the time had no indication which match tickets he was entitled to.
“The rights are varied for different host cities. Some are more expensive than others. When it became clear which teams were meeting, the prices went through the roof and they have kept rising.”
Fifa introduced a dynamic pricing model that allowed prices to shift based on demand, creating a disparity in costs, with big matches invariably having much more expensive tickets than matches involving the smaller footballing nations.
US-based Kenyan football fan Ng'ang'a Njenga with Swiss fans at the Los Angeles Stadium for the Group 'B' match between Switzerland and Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 18, 2026. Njenga bought tickets for six World Cup matches.
Photo credit: Pool
Njenga, who also travelled to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, said his experience in the Gulf nation was incomparable to north America.
“First, the ticket prices were so fair. I spent exactly $800 (Sh103,576) to watch six games. My most expensive ticket cost $200 (Sh25,894) for a knock-out match.
“Secondly, the atmosphere in Qatar was just right. The Fan Zones, the Metro and the dedicated fans made a difference. In USA, you don’t find that. Football is not the number one sport here; it is maybe number five,” the 54-year native of Gikamburu in Kiambu said.
Nganga, a former amateur player who still engages in a kickabout, is rooting for all 10 African teams but cannot pick the side he feels will likely win.
“With 48 teams, this is the hardest World Cup to predict. I am seeing an underdog winning,” he ventured.
The practicing psychiatrist also follows rugby keenly. He attended the final leg of the World Rugby Sevens Championships in Bordeaux from June 5-7.
“I love sports,” he simply said.
