Kevin and Sandro Arnold, brothers from Switzerland, traveled to North America for the 2026 World Cup on their own dime. They flew into San Francisco, paid for their own lodging and bought tickets for each of Switzerland’s first three matches scattered along the West Coast.
The Arnold brothers have gone to every major international soccer tournament involving Switzerland since 2016. That meant two trips to Russia, one to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup and stops in France and Germany. This tournament marked their first time traveling across the Atlantic to support their country — they quickly realized the experience was going to be a bit pricier than past ones.
They spent $140 on tickets for Saturday’s match at Levi’s Stadium against Qatar — not bad, all things considered. For Switzerland’s June 24 match in Vancouver, British Columbia, against one of the host countries, Canada, they paid about $700. Then there’s the car they rented to drive to Los Angeles for Switzerland’s second match on Tuesday.
“It’s damn expensive here in the USA, in California,” Kevin Arnold said. “But our country told us you have to go, you have to support Switzerland.”
The Qatar Football Association secured government funding for 1,000 fans to travel to North America with all expenses covered — including charter flights, hotels and transportation — according to a Qatar News Agency report.
Mohamed Al-Hajri was one of the fans who received a free ticket. He piled into one of Qatar’s three designated sections behind their net at Levi’s Stadium on Saturday. Aj-Hajri flew 16 hours Wednesday from Qatar to San Francisco, and he’ll be following the team to its next two matches in Vancouver and Seattle before returning to Qatar in two weeks.
“It’s a long trip, but we had to be here to support our team,” Al-Hajri said.
Fans like Al-Hajri cheered, waved mini Qatar flags and remained in their seats long after the final whistle when centerback Boualem Khoukhi netted the shocking equalizer in extra time. Qatar players shared a special moment with the fans after the match ended, running over to their sections in a show of support.
“I think the fans make the game,” said Qatar goalie Mahmoud Abunada, who won man of the match.
While a great moment on the surface, it’s unclear how genuine that support truly is.
Qatar, a nation known for committing human rights violations and its severe restrictions on free speech, required fans staying in San Francisco to attend a prematch march on Friday afternoon, SFGate reported. (SFGate and the Chronicle are both owned by Hearst but operate independently.)
When Qatar hosted the World Cup in 2022, the government handpicked hundreds of fans from opposing countries to attend the tournament for free, according to the New York Times. Fans had to sign a contract promising to, in part, report social media posts they saw of others criticizing Qatar.
Were the cheers on Saturday by the government-funded fans heartfelt or manufactured? Khoukhi’s historic goal provided a reason for pure joy.