An International Fan’s World Cup Final Experience: An “Extraordinary” End to the Tournament

When the FIFA World Cup reached its conclusion last month, it went down as a tournament that delivered record numbers of goals and unprecedented attendance. It also served as a milestone for the competition, with three host nations and 48 competing national teams for the first time.

However, it was also a World Cup that saw plenty of controversy along the way. President Donald Trump‘s intervention in the suspension of USMNT striker Folarin Balogun‘s red card vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina, the introduction of mandatory hydration breaks and the addition of a halftime show at the final did little to satisfy traditional soccer fans around the world.

In the final piece of our World Cup matchday series (check out our pieces on the scenes in Boston and Dallas), Robin Clifford, director of sales, EMEA, at Guesty, discussed his experience of traveling from Ireland to the World Cup Final. He gave insights into gaining entry into the stadium, the food and beverage costs and the crowd’s reaction to the entertainment offering.

Travel and Security

Ahead of the Final, FIFA encouraged fans to arrive at the New York New Jersey Stadium around four hours before kick-off time, so 11 a.m. ET for a 3 p.m. ET start, to reduce the pressure on security services. However, despite arriving at the time that FIFA had advised, many fans took to social media to claim that they had been subjected to waits of three hours to gain entry into the venue.

“I got the FIFA bus to the stadium because the Secret Service was doing the security, as President Trump was attending the match,” said Clifford. “There were queues of three hours, but I was very fortunate as I was out there first and I got through in five minutes.

“There were lots of complaints about that — they were checking everything, including taking out your wallet and going through each card. It was ridiculous, and with 80,000 people to check, it was a farce.”

Costs Inside the Stadium

The quality and price of food and beverage offerings within the World Cup stadiums came under fire during the tournament, although Atlanta Stadium was named the top venue of the tournament by USA Today, Sports Illustrated and The New York Times for its “Fan-First” affordable pricing.

However, Clifford was full of praise for the F&B provisions at the final in New Jersey.

“In the stadium itself, the food was reasonably priced at $16 for chicken and chips, but beer was quite expensive at $20,” he said. “The facilities, the food was amazing — the Americans do that very, very well.”

Entertainment and Atmosphere

This was the first World Cup to offer a halftime show, as well as an expanded Closing Ceremony featuring a pre-match show.

It was reported that the pre-match show, which was due to begin 90 minutes before kickoff, was significantly delayed for unknown reasons. Before the game, there were performances from the likes of Laura Pausini, Nicole Scherzinger, Robbie Williams and IShowSpeed, as well as an appearance by Tom Cruise, while Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award winner Jennifer Hudson sang the United States national anthem.

Meanwhile, the halftime show featured headliners such as Justin Bieber, Madonna, Shakira, Burna Boy and BTS, alongside Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel and PS 22 Chorus featuring Coldplay. The broadcast was initially expected to last 11 minutes, but the spectacle amounted to 27 minutes in total, meaning that FIFA broke its own rules on halftime breaks being required to last 15 minutes.

From an in-person fan perspective, Clifford said the show missed the mark.

“I haven’t been to halftime shows before, but this one was particularly awful. Madonna didn’t even come out to the pitch,” Clifford said. “I hardly knew she was there, and we mostly couldn’t even see her. Shakira was good, but it was 27 minutes long, and nobody was really engaging with it. I think people just thought it was boring, and it didn’t fit in.”

General Thoughts of the Tournament

While the action certainly delivered on the field with great games and elite players coming to the fore, the 2026 FIFA World Cup was also the subject of criticism for its escalating ticket prices, President Trump’s visa bans on fans from various competing national teams and the relocation of the Iranian National Team’s base camp from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico, just weeks before the tournament began.

“Because tickets were costing an average of $11,000 on the secondary market, there were a lot of people who had no interest in soccer or either team.” Clifford said. “They were just taking selfies or doing video calls. It was a bit surreal having so many people in there who weren’t interested in the game. I think it’s worrying that America did this with the World Cup, and they’re starting this trend of making sport elitist, which doesn’t really work with soccer.”

On the whole, though, Clifford deemed the tournament to be a success, despite what he says were FIFA’s attempts to “Americanize” it.

“It was one of the best days of my life because a World Cup Final is an extraordinary event with passionate Argentinian and Spanish supporters there. It was a tight game, which I liked, and I had a really good seat. It was a bucket-list experience and one of the top five experiences of my life. I’ve been to European Championship Finals and Champions League Finals, but the World Cup is another level. It’s the big dance, and it was an extraordinary event.”