Scotland fans book 20 school buses for games at ‘inaccessible’ US World Cup

“When I look at that difference in cost, that’s just profits you’re taking from us,” he said.

Not every host city is approaching transportation the same way. Atlanta, Houston and Seattle have stadiums linked directly to their rail systems, and regular fares will apply. Miami-Dade County officials recently announced they will offer free shuttles to get fans to and from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, about 15 miles (24 kilometres) from downtown Miami. Philadelphia, meanwhile, is offering free rides on the way back from the stadium, thanks to funding from FIFA sponsor Airbnb. And Kansas City, Missouri, is running $15 shuttles.

The relatively high transit costs for the matches at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey and Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts are partly because they are in the suburbs, and many fans drive to the NFL games they typically host. But parking will be extremely limited during the World Cup due to expanded security perimeters, broadcast needs and lots being used as VIP areas, forcing far more fans to use public transit.

David Gogishvili is a senior researcher at Switzerland’s University of Lausanne and studies how sport organisers put together big events like the World Cup.

He said it is standard practice for organisers like FIFA to pass much of the cost on to host countries. The difference this time is that the US has “stronger and more independent” state and local officials who have been less willing to take on the cost and “bow to the wills of FIFA”.

“These costs should be borne by the organisation that is earning money out of these events, which is FIFA. It should not always be the host cities that take on all the expenses,” Gogishvili said, noting the football body’s expected $13bn revenue from 2023-26.

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, has called on FIFA to cover the transportation costs to matches.

But FIFA pushed back, arguing that no other global event has been asked to absorb such costs and that its initial agreements with host cities called for free transportation for fans to all matches. The agreements were later changed to allow cities to provide transit “at cost”.

The reason transit has been so accessible at recent World Cups is that host nations like Russia and Qatar have viewed the tournament as a “public relations exercise,” and subsidised transit accordingly, Gogishvili said.

Officials’ anxiety over transit costs also comes amid growing concern that the promised World Cup economic boon will not materialise, with hotel room bookings not meeting expectations in most of the 11 US cities hosting the tournament. A 2022 study co-authored by Gogishvili found that nearly every World Cup from 1966 through 2018 ran at a financial deficit.

Yonah Freemark, a researcher at the Washington-based Urban Institute think tank who specialises in transit issues, said World Cup fans from Europe and Asia will encounter less-advanced but costlier transit systems than they are used to back home.

Pointing to the transit pricing tied to matches in New Jersey and Massachusetts, Freemark said officials “are trying to get away with murder”. Wait times and transit access, he added, will likely fall well short of what many foreign visitors are used to.

Ynara Correa da Costa, a Brazilian systems analyst who lives outside Sao Paulo, will be attending her seventh World Cup.

Like many, she was stunned when officials initially proposed charging as much as $150 for train fares from New York City to MetLife Stadium, where Brazil plays its opener against Morocco. The widespread shock led New Jersey officials to lower the price to $98 after securing additional funding.

But even the lowered price for a short train ride “is just not acceptable”, Costa said.

Costa was heartened when the local host committee said it had secured more buses to get to the stadium and slashed the price from $80 to $20. But there are only enough bus seats for 18,000 fans to get to the stadium, which holds about 82,500.

That seems far more manageable to Costa. Earlier, she wondered whether she and other cost-conscious fans might have to walk to MetLife Stadium, but that is not possible.

“We’ll go to the match, that I know,” Costa said. “But how? Let’s see.”