After discussion of my visit to the 2006 World Cup last month, it’s time to report on my visit to the 2026 version and the three games I was lucky enough to attend in Miami over the past month.

The planning for this year started last summer. When the Club World Cup (aka ‘Copa Gianni’) came to town, FIFA made an offer that for buying tickets to two games in that tournament, you’d be “guaranteed” a ticket buying opportunity for this year’s tournament. Originally, I’d been thinking of making a trip of it, with Seattle/Vancouver a possibility. Unfortunately hotel pricing was extremely prohibitive in any of the World Cup cities…$500+ a night. I’m a much more frugal traveler than that.

I didn’t have much faith in FIFA’s ability to honor that guarantee, but I surprisingly received an email in November 2025 with a ticket-buying window later that week. Signing onto their proprietary ticketing website made me nostalgic for Ticketmaster, but I somehow got through with minimal waiting and was able to snag two tickets to the June 21st game in Miami. They were $150 each, which seemed pricey at the time, but little did I know what FIFA’s greed and ‘dynamic pricing’ would do to ticket prices in months to come.

The draw of teams wouldn’t happen for another couple weeks, and with the tournament extended to 48 teams, a good matchup was far from guaranteed. Around the same time, my friend Calvin reached out – his friend was able to grab tickets for the June 24th game in Miami, so I had a second game to attend.

I avidly followed the draw of teams in early December to see who I’d get. England? Germany? France?

Cape Verde. Against Uruguay. ARGH. Oh well, it’s still the World Cup, even if it’s a 7-0 game. The second game was a bit more interesting – Brazil vs Scotland.

Sunday June 21st – Cape Verde vs Uruguay

The day had finally arrived for game #1, Cape Verde vs Uruguay. I picked up my friend Ric and we headed for Hard Rock -erm- “Miami” Stadium. By now, I’d gotten properly excited for the World Cup…in the couple of weeks since it had started the games had been competitive, the fan interactions were fun and global politics hadn’t interceded as I originally feared.

What a game it turned out to be. Cape Verde had given a hint that they’d be competitive by drawing 0-0 with titans Spain a few days earlier. The pageantry of the pregame was a sight to see.

Amazingly, Cape Verde scored the first goal in the 21st minute! A long range free-kick from Kevin Pina found its way into the back of the Uruguayan goal with the help of some less than stellar defending. Though the crowd heavily favored Uruguay, the Cape Verde fans and neutrals in the stadium erupted.

Uruguay struck twice before the end of the first half to take a 2-1 lead into halftime. In the 61st minute good fortune struck for Cape Verde again, with the Uruguayan goalkeeper making a mistake which led to another Cape Verde goal to tie the game at 2. A nervy 30 minutes followed, and Cape Verde walked away with another unexpected point on their progression to the knockout rounds. And Cape Verde had gained two new fans!!

Wednesday June 24th – Brazil vs Scotland

Three days later, it was time for game two – Brazil vs Scotland. The Scottish fans had become one of the stories of the World Cup, throughly enjoying their first qualification in a world cup for almost 30 years. They’d based in Boston, taking over a Red Sox game, marching with bagpipes and enchanting the locals. The “No Scotland, No Party!” festivities moved to Miami for the third game of the group stage, a match with Brazil which would go a long way towards determining whether the Scottish party would continue.

Requisitioning the proper t-shirt, I headed back down to Miami with Calvin and his friends. Brazil brings quite a party of its own, and with South Florida’s large Brazilian population, they outnumbered the Scots.

I’ve heard passionate fans singing in stadiums before, but I’ve never heard something quite as rousing as the Scottish fans singing their anthem, “Flower of Scotland”

As far as gameplay, Flower of Scotland would be the high point. Brazil was too good, especially Vinicius Jr who scored twice in the first half.

Scotland couldn’t prevent an important third goal and would go on to lose 3-0, ending their tournament a few days later

Unbowed, when we headed back to Hollywood, FL after the game to check out Micky Byrne’s Irish Pub, we found the Scottish fans still in a celebratory mood

Saturday July 18th – France vs England (Third Place Game)

To end my visits to World Cup 2026, I made it to the penultimate game of the tournament – the “Bronze Medal” game between France and England in Miami.

A strange game – the lowest stakes of the World Cup since both participants had lost their semifinals and were playing for third place – and another opportunity for FIFA to make money. I was on the fence about going, but decided on Friday afternoon to pick up a ticket. When else might I be able to see these two teams playing in a “competitive” match in my backyard?

“Competitive” may have been a bit of a stretch – neither team was committed to playing rudimentary defense and the match had an “all-star game” vibe. Perhaps that’s why it was so entertaining – that and the 10 goals scored in England’s 6-4 victory.

I was fortunate enough to see 4 goals scored by Arsenal players – a hat-trick for Bukayo Saka and an opening goal 3 minutes into the game by Declan Rice. Glad I wore my kit!

England had a 4-0 lead at the half, France stormed back to make it 4-3 in the second half (including the two goals which won Kylian Mbappe the golden boot), Saka scored a penalty and the two teams traded goals in the final minutes courtesy of France’s Dembele and England’s Bellingham. Very glad I made the trip for one more game.

Epilogue

I’ve very much enjoyed this World Cup – the games have been fantastic and the international fans have found regular Americans to be friendly hosts. And I’ll especially treasure my three games in Miami. No Cabo Verde? No Party!