The 2026 FIFA World Cup – more like the Capitalism Cup – will undoubtedly go down in history as the greediest edition of the prestigious tournament.
Even a mere pretzel cost over £10 during the clash between Belgium and Egypt, while a miserable-looking pot of potato and cheese dumplings including a beer had a whopping £34 price tag.
Dan Roan of BBC Sport has now revealed on X (previously known as Twitter) how much an England fan paid for a return train ticket from Penn Station in Manhattan to the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
🤕 Elliott Anderson is a doubt for England vs Panama, who should replace him if he’s unable to play?
England fan slapped with 7.6x price hike on train ticket
Normally, this round trip costs $12.90 (£9.50) – according to NJ Transit.
However, an England fan who Roan bumped into in the United States showed proof on their iPhone that they were charged $98 (£73) for the same trip – as prices surge to ridiculous heights due to the World Cup.
That is a 7.6x increase on the normal price of this round trip from Penn Station in Manhattan to the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, and just goes to show how the common football supporter is being heavily extorted during this edition of the World Cup.
Remarkably, the trip was initially going to cost $150 (£111) before backlash from supporters saw it reduced to $98 (£73).
Not only that, but the ticket actually deactivates once the clock strikes 2am on June 28th in the United States. For the price, the supporters in question deserve a lot more flexibility.
It is rumoured that just food and beverages inside World Cup stadiums alone are expected to bring in around $280.8m (£212.8m) to $312m (£236.3m) by the time the competition is over – a quite remarkable amount.
With trains and other services also bleeding fans dry out in the United States, Gianni Infantino has a lot to answer for when it comes to taking the working man’s game closer to an environment for the elites.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
