{"id":813337,"date":"2026-07-20T02:42:33","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T02:42:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/813337\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T02:42:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T02:42:33","slug":"world-cup-fans-from-argentina-and-spain-spent-big-cash-at-the-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/813337\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup fans from Argentina and Spain spent big cash at the final"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Attendees cheer before the start of the World Cup championship final match between Spain and Argentina in East Rutherford, N.J. on Sunday.Jacquelyn Martin\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Tom Cruise gamely tried to deliver a speech at the World Cup about how soccer was some sort of global unifier and great players had crossed oceans and borders, and, well, what was the rest?<\/p>\n

It was about mission impossible to hear the actor over the cacophony of bells and whistles and drums that served as the house band for all the joyous singing and clapping among the Argentine and Spanish fans who travelled thousands of kilometres \u2013 and spent thousands and thousands more in tickets, beers and, yes, wigs \u2013 to watch the World Cup final.<\/p>\n

No exorbitant ticket price was too high to possibly say goodbye to Lionel Messi, playing in likely his last World Cup game.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoney comes back,\u201d Argentina fan Manuel Lopez Maccotta said. \u201cThis is once in a lifetime. You\u2019re seeing the best player in the world in his last World Cup. Money is worthless compared to this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maccotta and one of his friends traveled from Buenos Aires to New Jersey to watch Spain\u2019s 1-0 win over Argentina on Ferran Torres\u2019 goal in extra time on Sunday.<\/p>\n

The ticket price?<\/p>\n

\u201cAlmost 10K in American money,\u201d Maccotta said.<\/p>\n

The US$18 beer he was in line to buy suddenly seemed like chump change compared to the hot game ticket.<\/p>\n

His friend Santiago Burcaco got off easy at US$5,000 for his ticket.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Fans celebrate in Times Square following Spain’s win over Argentina in the World Cup final on Sunday in New York.Anna Connors\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

\u201cI bought the ticket before the World Cup final,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In the 200 section of the stadium Sunday, Guadalupe Villar said she and her husband were at the finals almost by chance.<\/p>\n

The Buenos Aires couple, who brought along their nearly two-year-old daughter, won a contest for tickets to Argentina\u2019s semi-final match against England in Atlanta. After their home country won, they decided they weren\u2019t ready to go home and splurged for finals tickets that cost US$7,000 each (their daughter was free).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe both work and we have some savings and we were like, \u2018OK, maybe this vacation will go a little longer.\u2019 We\u2019re here now, you know?\u201d Villar said.<\/p>\n

The only hiccup? Their flight from Atlanta to New York was cancelled by bad weather.<\/p>\n

Villar, who is an architect, said the family piled into a car with fellow countrymen they met on their travels and drove the 15 hours north, arriving at 5 a.m. on gameday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re tired, and hot,\u201d she said as she took a break in a shaded area between the seating bowl and the concession area with her sleepy daughter.<\/p>\n

After the match, the family headed for the exits before the championship trophy was handed to Spain.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpain was better this game, it hurts me to say,\u201d Rodrigo Fernandez said as Villar carried their sleeping daughter. \u201cIt was a great game, and it was a shame to lose, but was an unforgettable experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

World Cup fans wanted to party<\/p>\n

World Cup fans were given a \u201cJoin The Celebration\u201d sign that encouraged fans on how to best participate in the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the music kicks in, clap along using your clapper!\u201d<\/p>\n

It was about as useful as signing up Messi for soccer instructions.<\/p>\n

Just as they have throughout the tournament, fans from both countries were jacked up from the moment they navigated long times to enter the stadium and sang and chanted in their native languages; certainly, giving halftime performers such as Madonna and Shakira a lofty bar to reach. There were no indication security lines for fans were slowed by U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n

Spain fans dotted rows in their vibrant red-and-yellow afro wigs that featured their nation\u2019s flag. They removed them only to dump water on their heads and down their necks, trying to keep cool on a sunny day.<\/p>\n

Ticket prices for the final soared like a Messi free kick before finally coming down just a smidge \u2013 by well-heeled fans standards. Modern Family actor Sof\u00eda Vergara stopped traffic in one concourse about 45 minutes before kickoff.<\/p>\n

Tickets to the World Cup final, which were selling for tens of thousands of dollars, dropped to as low as US$2,334.50 in the hours before the game on FIFA\u2019s resale site. FIFA still had list price tickets on sale the morning of the game for US$10,990.<\/p>\n

World Cup fans got creative to attend matches<\/p>\n

Yes, perhaps, some fans scrimped and saved to buy tickets. <\/p>\n

Messi and the once-in-a-lifetime game instilled a unique kind of obsession to the passionate, loyal Argentina fan base. <\/p>\n

They included three friends who cycled more than 16,000 kilometres from their home in Argentina to Kansas City, Mo., to watch their national team compete in the tournament; a nanny who lived out of a Honda Civic to scrounge, save and travel to games; and another fan who said she got a tattoo of an Argentine celebrity in exchange for a game ticket.<\/p>\n

The cyclists appeared to have made their way to New Jersey.<\/p>\n

The soccer-crazed diehards found inside the stadium mostly had saved and had the means to make the trip.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old Maccotta runs a software company, and his friend Burcaco works in real estate.<\/p>\n

Maccotta figured he spent around US$35,000 total to follow Argentina around for the World Cup. The highlight before Sunday, a win against England. He landed in New York at 4:50 a.m. on Sunday after a nearly 14-hour delay out of Miami because of thunderstorms.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the last Messi World Cup,\u2019 he said. \u201cMy country. Hopefully we go back-to-back. We have to share the feeling. It\u2019s once in a lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Argentina, it was a chance to become the first back-to-back men\u2019s World Cup champion since Pele and Brazil did it in 1958 and 1962. And for Messi, it would have been the perfect ending to what he has indicated will be his final run with his national team. <\/p>\n

Thousands of Argentina and Spain fans flooded New York City\u2019s Times Square over the weekend and burst into song and chants and the kind of revelry that has been a festive staple in World Cup host cities throughout North America. <\/p>\n

Spain was ready to call the fandom a draw.<\/p>\n

Curro Sanchez, from Madrid, spent US$8,000 on a ticket. He landed a day earlier and is staying in Manhattan through Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHad a big, big, big fight with my wife,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cAt the end of the day, she understood.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Attendees cheer before the start of the World Cup championship final match between…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":813338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,561,82,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-813337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=813337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/813338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=813337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=813337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=813337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}