People’s soccer? High costs keep fans away from their team in South America

In South America, the region where the world champion was born Lionel Messiadmired among rich and poor, enjoy the soccer of teams in the stadium is a privilege. High ticket prices for the World Cup games distance the popular classes from their idols.

In the first round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, played last September, complaints arose about sky-high prices in countries that live football like a religion:

From Messi’s coach, Lionel Scaloni, from the Chilean idol Arturo Vidal and from the fans who survive on low salaries in unstable economies with skyrocketing inflation like Colombia, which sells the second most expensive tickets in the region in Barranquilla, according to AFP calculations. .

The average cost is about US$102, in a nation with a minimum wage of US$270. Pablo González, a worker at a university in that Caribbean city in charge of maintenance and cleaning services, has already resigned himself to the fact that he will not be able to see his team on Thursday against Uruguay due to lack of money.

“In the personal case (paying) is something impossible (…) there are people who have a very high purchasing power but one cannot enjoy that”the 49-year-old fan complained in conversation with AFP.

“Exclusive”

The triumphant walk that Argentina takes on the continent thinking about the next World Cup arouses passions and frustrations among fans in a country with 120% of annual inflation and a poverty rate that exceeds 40% of the population.

For the next match against Paraguay, the federation arranged tickets that average 120 dollars (at the official exchange rate). Given the number of fans who want to see Messi and company, the governing body of Argentine football launched the “AFA ID”, a type of subscription to the Albiceleste that gives priority for the purchase of tickets to those who purchase it.

The one that gives the most benefits, called category “Gold”, It is close to US$14,000, a value totally different from the US$323 basic salary.

Without directly condemning the prices set, coach Lionel Scaloni said in September that he spent thousands of Argentine pesos on tickets for his family and suggested that fans suffer in their desire to accompany the team. “Scaloneta”.

“It costs me a lot, like everyone else. But I’m no one to set the price of the tickets.”he said in a press conference. “If it were up to me, let people go for free. (but what can I do? “I can’t do anything about this.” he pointed.

Some prices are “exclusive of something popular like football”Candela Thompson claimed in a note from the Argentine state agency Télam.

In Brazil, prices vary according to the socio-economic capacity of the host city of the matches, while the lack of interest in ‘Selection’ grows among Brazilians.

Repentance

Considered a footballer of the people due to his humble origins, captain Arturo Vidal was in charge of making a statement in Chile.

“The tickets are expensive. “We already told the president (of the Chilean football federation Pablo Milad) to lower them a little, because they are very expensive, we need a full stadium.”he said before the match against Colombia on September 12, in a Twitch broadcast.

According to the Chilean press, unlike in past qualifiers, the fans of “The Red” It took several days to acquire all the tickets for the Monumental stadium in Santiago.

In Uruguay, the leaders made a mea culpa for the prices, which prevented the Centenario de Montevideo from being full in the official debut on the bench. “Crazy” Marcelo Bielsa, last September 8 with the celestial victory 3-1 against Chile.

“We missed him”acknowledged the president of the Uruguayan Football Association (AUF), Ignacio Alonso, in statements to Esdrújula TV reported by the newspaper El País. “The proof is that the stadium should have had a sale of 40,000 tickets, which was what was allowed that day, and we had about 31,500,” he admitted.

“There are 8,500 that did not go and it responds to the rejection of prices,” said Alonso, who slightly reduced costs for the qualifying window in October.