Bruce Buchan, a fan of the Scottish national team, was saving money for a home renovation when the team’s unexpected qualification for the FIFA (International Football Federation) World Cup in North America completely changed the family’s spending plans.
“My wife and I had been researching quotes for the bathroom for two months, and then we sorted ourselves out. We called the plumber and said the job was cancelled,” said the 36-year-old engineer from Balmedie, near Aberdeen. The couple will use the money to travel with their children to the United States for Scotland’s three group stage games, in Boston and Miami.
“We never thought it would happen,” he said of the country’s return to the men’s World Cup for the first time since 1998, secured through a thrilling 4-2 injury-time victory over Denmark in November. “It feels wonderful and we’re getting ready to go.”
Fans from the 48 participating nations are busy making travel plans for the biggest World Cup in history, which will be held in June and July in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The period to request tickets for the tournament’s record 104 games ends on January 13.
For fans of teams that regularly qualify for the World Cup, there is the usual debate over whether or not to attend — which means dealing with exorbitant airfare and inflated accommodation costs, even before securing the coveted tickets.
But for success-hungry Scotland fans, being there seems less optional. The classification and the end of almost 30 years of suffering have a greater meaning, representing not only sporting success, but also the restoration of national confidence after decades on the sidelines of world football.
“It’s a deeper cultural thing than in some other countries. It’s how we see ourselves,” said former Scotland international Pat Nevin of the influence football has on Scottish identity. Prime Minister John Swinney even proposed an extra bank holiday on June 15, the day after Scotland’s World Cup debut.
Scotland hosted the first international football match in 1872, when the home team faced England in Glasgow, and the national team participated in five consecutive World Cups before 1998.
“We were a major force in the world and in football, and that became increasingly difficult to defend after 1998, when we repeatedly fell off the pace and didn’t even come close to qualifying,” said Nevin, a former Chelsea and Everton player and now a sports writer and commentator.
He said he was “not at all surprised” by the presence of so many Scottish fans, recalling the approximately 200,000 who traveled to Germany to support the team at the European Championship two years ago.
For many Scottish fans, he suggested, this World Cup would be “the most important day of their lives, after the wedding”.
The 2026 tournament is also a milestone for Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan, who will compete for the first time. Among other nations that have been absent for a long period, there is great expectation.
Norway, whose last World Cup was also in 1998, will travel in an optimistic mood after dominating their group in the qualifiers. With star Erling Haaland, the team has a player capable of shining in the tournament.
“Everyone in the country is happy. Norway has been waiting for this moment for many years,” said Ole Kristian Sandvik, spokesman for the Norwegian Supporters’ Union. “I think a lot of people will spend their summer vacation in the United States this year.”
But he added: “The big problem is the price — tickets and trips are very expensive.”
Scottish fan Buchan, who set aside £25,000 for the adventure, said his WhatsApp groups were buzzing with discussions about the best routes and money-saving deals. “We’re going to fly to Orlando because they’re the cheapest tickets we could find,” he said. “Obviously, with two little kids, we’re going to stop by Disneyland.”
FIFA has been accused of making the tournament unaffordable for ordinary fans by drastically increasing ticket prices compared to previous tournaments. Although it recently made a batch of new, more affordable tickets available for £45, the Football Supporters’ Association said this “still leaves 90% of loyal and die-hard fans paying absurd prices”.
Buchan said that, having paid £100 per ticket to watch the Euro 2024 games in Germany, “this time we are getting closer to £5,000 for the tickets. That’s the big difference.”
FIFA said in late December that demand had exceeded availability by more than 30 times, following orders for more than 150 million tickets. “The pricing model […] reflects existing market practice for major entertainment and sporting events in our host countries, including football,” the organization told the Financial Times in a statement.
Nevin had a different view, calling FIFA’s ticket strategy “a slap in the face of what made football great.”
“As a financial idea to maximize profit, it makes perfect sense. They are making exorbitant fortunes,” he said. “But the reason they can make exorbitant fortunes is because football is brilliant. And the reason football is brilliant is because the fans have made it brilliant.”
Now these fans, including those in Scotland, “are being told: ‘You can go away, we don’t need you’. And that’s what hurts.”
