Football fans are already counting down the days until next summer's 2026 FIFA World Cup, but they may have to save up for their stadium pints as well as the flights and tickets.
After an extremely drawn out event yesterday, which saw Donald Trump win the first ever FIFA peace prize, the Village People perform the YMCA and various other crazy stuff happen before we finally got round to the actual draw, excitement is building for another summer of sport.
England found out their opponents for the 2026 event, with old foes Croatia perhaps the biggest threat in a group that also contains Ghana and Panama, as Thomas Tuchel looks to lead the Three Lions to glory.
There will be thousands of fans who are already planning to fly out to the tournament, which takes place in locations across Mexico, Canada and the US between June and July, but any spending money might have to be doubled or tripled depending on which stadiums you end up in.
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Now, I'm sure any travel aficionados among you won't be surprised to hear that Mexico's stadiums are home to the cheapest pints in general, while those in the US and Canada make the ones in London look cheap.
The full list of 16 venues and the expected prices of their pints (or xp if you will), can be seen below, from cheapest to most expensive.
- Estadio Akron (Zapopan), Guadalajara – £2.04
- Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – £2.04
- Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – £4.35
- BC Place, Vancouver – £6.37
- Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – £6.37
- Gillette Stadium, Foxborough – £6.43
- BMO Field, Toronto – £6.75
- Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – £6.90
- Lumen Field, Seattle – £7.28
- AT&T Stadium, Arlington – £7.28
- Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – £8.43
- Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens – £8.99
- NRG Stadium, Houston – £9.59
- MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford – £9.74
- Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara – £10.49
- SoFi Stadium, Inglewood – £10.49
The bad news for England fans is that, while final details are still to be decided, Tuchel's side will be in either Toronto or Dallas for the game against Croatia, Toronto or Boston for Ghana and then New York or Philadelphia for the final game against Panama.
So unless you're comfortable shelling out potentially close to £10 for every pint in the stadium, you're going to remember nearly every detail of the match, which history will tell you is rarely a good thing when it comes to England matches.
However, the experts seem to think that, all being well, England could face up against Mexico in Mexico City in the round of 16, where the cheaper pints might well offset any heartbreak about going out to the hosts.
Of course, I'd always encourage sensible drinking, since getting blackout drunk is a potential sign of alcoholism, and if it does actually end up coming home, you're going to want to remember what it was like to be there.
James Moorhouse