England's Pre-World Cups Friendlies See Disappointing Crowd Turnout
Thomas Tuchel has England pointed toward the 2026 FIFA World Cup as one of the genuine contenders. The squad is confirmed, the group stage draw is done, and the country hasn't won a major title since 1966. The pressure is real, and so is the expectation.
But before any of that gets going, England has a warm-up problem on its hands. The Football Association is struggling to sell tickets for England's pre-tournament friendlies in the United States, and the numbers don't look good.
According to reports from the Telegraph, just 13,000 tickets have been sold for the June 6 match against New Zealand at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, a venue that holds 69,000 people. The Orlando fixture against Costa Rica on June 10 sits at around 12,000 tickets sold. Combined, that means more than 50,000 seats could sit empty across both games.
Only 1,500 official England Supporters Travel Club members are currently expected to make the trip to Tampa. The FA has acknowledged the third-party ticket operator in Florida has had a hard time generating demand, particularly from England fans based locally in the US.
Ticket Costs Putting England Fans Off World Cup Warm-Up Games
The pricing has a lot to do with it. The lowest available tickets are listed at £54 but the broader cost of traveling across North America for the World Cup has pushed many supporters away from adding pre-tournament friendlies to the trip.
Crossing the Atlantic and then moving between cities doesn't come cheap and fans are clearly being selective about where they spend. England's World Cup campaign opens on June 17 against Croatia, followed by group stage matches against Ghana and Panama.
Tuchel's side were drawn into Group L and come into the tournament off the back of reaching the Euro 2024 final, which has kept expectations high heading into the summer.
The ticket troubles aren't just an England problem either. FIFA is now facing an investigation tied to its pricing and sales methods across the tournament, with officials in New York and New Jersey reviewing complaints from supporters over unclear ticket categories and prices that surged significantly.
Dynamic pricing has drawn particular criticism. In April, the cheapest resale tickets for England's opener against Croatia in Texas had already climbed to $898.
FIFA has reported that close to five million of the tournament's six million tickets have been sold across 104 matches. The overall demand is there. For England's warm-up games in Florida though, the interest hasn't followed, and the FA is running out of time to close that gap before June arrives.
Related: Brazil Gets Concerning Neymar Injury News 13 Days Before World Cup
Copyright 2026 Athlon Sports. All rights reserved.
This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 11:23 AM.