“Let’s Go to Canada” — World Cup Fans Are SKIPPING Trump’s America for Canadian Stadiums

WASHINGTON / TORONTO — When FIFA awarded the 2026 World Cup to the United States, Canada, and Mexico, it was billed as the biggest sporting event in history and a landmark moment for North American soft power. With 78 matches allocated to the United States alone, 11 American host cities, and projections of up to 10 million international visitors, Washington officials spoke confidently about a $40 billion economic windfall and a global showcase moment.

“We can’t wait to welcome soccer fans from all over the globe,” President Donald Trump said in a statement highlighted on the State Department’s official website ahead of the tournament.

But just days after kickoff, a very different picture is emerging. A striking geographic imbalance is defining the opening week of the tournament: international soccer fans are actively avoiding American venues and concentrating their travel in Canada.

Toronto and Vancouver—the tournament’s two Canadian host cities—are reporting stronger-than-expected demand, fuller stadium environments, and significantly higher international engagement than several major U.S. venues. While Canadian streets are packed with traveling supporters, more than 176,000 tickets remain unsold across opening group-stage matches in the United States, hotel rates in multiple U.S. host cities are being revised downward, and international flight bookings to America are down an estimated 14% year-over-year during the tournament window.

The early contrast is raising a central question for economists and sports analysts alike: how did the United States, host of the largest share of World Cup matches, become the weaker draw in a tournament it was expected to dominate economically?

A Tournament Already Defined by Absence

The 2026 World Cup officially kicked off at Mexico City’s historic Estadio Azteca, and while the competition on the pitch is well underway, the defining storyline off the pitch has been who is not there. They are not in stadium seats, not in airport arrivals, and not in official fan zones. In some cases, they are not even allowed to enter the country.

Multiple qualified nations are subject to stringent U.S. travel restrictions that have complicated or entirely blocked fan attendance. At least four participating countries face full travel bans that effectively prevent ordinary supporters from entering the United States, even if their national teams are competing on American soil. Among the heavily restricted nations are Haiti, Iran, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal. While FIFA managed to secure visa exemptions for the players and coaching staff to compete, ordinary fans have received no such leniency.

That distinction has become one of the most controversial aspects of the tournament’s opening days, alienating international fanbases and creating highly visible swaths of empty seats during matches that should have been sold out.

The Referee Who Never Made It In

The tension surrounding American border policy reached a flashpoint involving Omar Abdulkadir Artan, a highly respected Somali referee selected by FIFA to officiate at the tournament. Artan, widely regarded as one of Africa’s top officials after being named the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Best Male Referee of 2025, was denied entry upon arrival at Miami International Airport.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials cited security-related concerns involving alleged associations with suspected extremist-linked individuals, though no detailed public evidence was provided to FIFA or the public. FIFA subsequently confirmed that Artan would not participate in the tournament and had been returned to Istanbul.

The decision immediately sparked fierce criticism across the global football community, not only because of Artan’s individual reputation, but because of what the incident symbolized: a FIFA-appointed official being excluded from a FIFA World Cup by the host nation’s government.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino acknowledged the incident during a press conference in Mexico City, though he sought to minimize its broader implications. “It is unfortunate what happened,” Infantino told reporters. “But we don’t control everything.”

The response did little to calm concerns among international supporters, journalists, and soccer analysts who see the rigid American visa and entry system as a self-inflicted wound hobbling the tournament’s success.

Visa Barriers, Border Denials, and Fan Frustration

Artan’s case is merely the most high-profile example of an ongoing logistical crisis at the American border. Multiple federation staff members, accredited journalists, and ticket-holding fans have reported severe visa complications or outright denials at U.S. ports of entry.

The Iranian national team has been particularly affected by these geopolitical frictions. According to team officials, the entire delegation was instructed by U.S. authorities to enter the United States only one day prior to their scheduled matches—a restriction that severely limits essential training and acclimatization time. Furthermore, at least 15 members of the team’s technical and support staff were impacted by entry complications or denials, forcing the squad to set up their base camp in Tijuana, Mexico, and cross the border exclusively for fixtures.

Supporters from Morocco have faced similar hurdles, with significant numbers of ticket holders reportedly denied visas by U.S. consulates. Journalists from Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal have also detailed extreme difficulties obtaining the necessary media credentials and visas required to follow their national teams.

Human rights organizations have raised urgent concerns about what they describe as a “restrictive and unpredictable” entry environment under the current administration.

“The United States has created a hostile environment for players, fans, and journalists,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement, pointing to widespread anxiety among travelers regarding aggressive border searches, electronic device seizures, and social media screening.

In some cases, even accredited European journalists have been denied the multi-entry visas required to seamlessly follow matches across the border networks of the three host nations.

Empty Seats and the Ticket Problem

Inside American stadiums, the consequences of these policies are becoming increasingly difficult for broadcasters to hide. Attendance gaps are marring the tournament’s visual presentation. A group-stage match between South Korea and the Czech Republic in Guadalajara was officially listed at nearly 45,000 attendees in a 46,000-seat stadium, demonstrating robust demand in Mexico. However, matches held simultaneously across the border in the U.S. have told a different story, with television broadcasts frequently showing large, vacant sections of seating.

FIFA has officially attributed the visible discrepancies to “no-shows”—fans who purchased tickets during initial lottery phases but ultimately did not attend. While no-shows are common in large sporting events, the scale of visible empty seating in the U.S. has drawn sharp criticism.

Beyond visa denials, sports economists argue that the underlying issue is pricing. FIFA’s dynamic pricing models and elevated secondary resale markets have pushed the cost of attending many American matches far beyond what mid-tier international fans can reasonably afford, particularly when paired with skyrocketing U.S. hotel costs.

Canada’s Unexpected Advantage

As U.S. venues face uneven attendance and softening demand, Canada’s two host cities are telling a remarkably different story. Toronto and Vancouver, which together host 13 matches of the expanded tournament, are reporting record-setting tourism activity and an incredibly stable ticket uptake among international fans.

Industry observers note that fans who are hesitant about U.S. entry policies, political rhetoric, or logistical complexity are increasingly shifting their dollars and attention north. Travel agencies in Europe and South America have reported a surge in “Canada-only” World Cup vacation packages.

The Action Network recently ranked both Toronto and Vancouver among the top host cities for overall fan experience, citing accessibility, comprehensive public transport infrastructure, and ease of entry as key advantages over their American counterparts. The contrast has been particularly visible among European and South American fans, many of whom are openly stating that they opted to attend matches in Canada rather than navigate U.S. visa uncertainty or intense airport security screenings.

Immigration Enforcement and Fan Anxiety

Another domestic factor shaping attendance behavior in the United States is the highly visible presence of immigration enforcement at major sporting venues. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed prior to the tournament that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents would be present at World Cup stadiums as part of broader federal security operations.

That announcement followed months of aggressive immigration enforcement actions in major American metropolitan areas. The hyper-visible security apparatus has caused deep anxiety, not just among visiting international fans, but within local immigrant communities who would otherwise fill stadium seats.

At SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, stadium workers reportedly negotiated strike protections ahead of the tournament that would allow them to walk off the job if they felt unsafe due to ICE enforcement activity near their workplace.

For many international fans, particularly those from non-Western nations or countries subject to heightened scrutiny, the presence of federal immigration agents at stadium gates has contributed to a profound hesitation about attending matches in person. A German fan interviewed by CNN outside a fan zone in Vancouver explained why he chose to avoid the American legs of the tournament entirely.

“I don’t feel like anyone would protect me there,” he said, citing concerns about being racially profiled by American border authorities. “In Canada, the atmosphere feels like a celebration. In the U.S., it feels like an interrogation.”

A Broader Tourism Decline

The economic underperformance of the American World Cup matches does not exist in a vacuum; it is taking place against a broader backdrop of declining U.S. tourism. In 2025, the United States was one of the only major global destinations to see a net decline in foreign visitors, down approximately 6%, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). International visitor spending in the U.S. fell 4.6% to $176 billion over the same period.

Canadian travel southward has dropped even more sharply, with January 2026 arrivals down nearly 30% year-over-year. Airlines have adjusted their inventory to match this cooling demand. WestJet cut several U.S. routes, Air Transat exited its Florida routes entirely, and European bookings to the United States for summer travel are down more than 14%. The World Cup, which was widely expected to reverse these slumping tourism trends, has so far failed to produce the anticipated economic surge for American businesses.

Conversely, Canada’s tourism and hospitality sector has shown remarkable relative strength. Toronto and Vancouver have seen steadier booking trends and more consistent international arrivals tied specifically to World Cup travel. While Canada is hosting a much smaller share of the overall tournament, its cities are benefiting from a double wave of domestic enthusiasm and international fans choosing Canada as a safe haven from American border anxieties.

The result is a striking imbalance: a tournament explicitly designed as a shared North American showcase is producing highly uneven economic outcomes across its host nations. While the United States holds the vast majority of the matches, Canada, unexpectedly, is capturing the true spirit—and the economic bounty—of the global moment.