Scotland as well as England are on their way to contest the greatest prize on Planet Football – the 2026 Men’s World Cup in North America.
Wales and Northern Ireland are in the play-offs following them. It is never too early to start planning travel to a big sporting event – and in terms of sheer scale, there has never been one as vast as the 2026 Fifa World Cup.
Yet with a tournament spread across the US, Mexico and Canada, and no certainty yet about where Scotland will play their opening games, what is the best travel strategy?
What are the host cities for the World Cup?
The first match is at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on 11 June with another 102 games before the final on 19 July at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. After the 18 November performance on the pitch it looks as though Scotland will be unstoppable. You can pick up a ticket on JetBlue from Edinburgh to New York for under £750 if you want to take a punt on the final.
But before that it’s a guessing game with 16 venues strewn across Mexico, the United States and Canada. I’ve been looking at the distances involved – over 2,000 miles separate the opening and closing venues, and Miami to Vancouver is close to 3,000 miles.
England and Scotland will be going to countries we don’t know, to grounds we don’t know, to play opponents we don’t know.
Each of those host countries knows they will play their first games in front of a home crowd in Mexico City, Los Angeles and Toronto, respectively. To find out what happens after that – and where England and Scotland will be playing – all eyes will be on the World Cup draw in Washington DC on Friday 5 December at 5pm GMT.
Should simply sit on their hands before that?
No especially if you want a bargain trip. All the evidence from past World Cup draws show that prices for flights and accommodation go stratospheric as soon as the cities that will host Scotland and, especially, England are revealed.
You might find air fares double in the course of an hour, or planes simply fill up with no seats available. So taking a punt on a transatlantic flight is not a bad idea right now. The trouble is, with the opening stages split into Eastern, Central and Western Regions, you could guess wrong and end up thousands of miles from where your team are playing.
What strategy would you recommend?
I’ve been crunching numbers. Statistically England and Scotland are unlikely to be playing in the western region, along the Pacific Coast – only 27 per cent chance.
There’s a one-in-three chance that they will be in the central region, basically Texas and Mexico.
The strongest likelihood, still only 40 per cent, is that they will be in the Eastern Region. And so I think it makes sense to book flights to one of those cities, with the possibility of having to buy an add-on flight.
My choice would be Philadelphia or Atlanta – both with direct flights from London Heathrow, Manchester and Edinburgh. Flying out on the day before the tournament and back the day after the final group games is currently priced at around £700 return.
From Philadelphia there are decent train links to New York and Boston, while Atlanta is well placed for accessing Miami – and, indeed, any of the other locations as Atlanta is the busiest airport in the world.
How tangled is the red tape?
Fans who are hoping to visit the US should apply for an Esta permit, price $40 (£31) before they commit to any travel arrangements. The same applies for supporters heading for Canada; the necessary permit is an eTA. price C$7 (£4). Beware of scam websites – use only the official government site. Click here for Esta and here for eTA.
The Mexican authorities say: “If you’re visiting Mexico as a tourist, you do not need a visa. You’ll get a stamp in your passport with the number of days you are allowed to stay.”
What about somewhere to stay?
A survey on 18 November – which actually came out during Scotland’s deciding game – from an organisation called HotelPlanner shows Boston and Vancouver in Canada off the scale at over £500 a night, Atlanta at £450, New York at £400 and Houston as the cheapest – at barely £100 a night.
But I urge fans not to worry about hotel rates at all at this stage. The host cities have so much accommodation that I think you can leave it until a few weeks beforehand.
There are many days to fill between matches. Which location is best for fun?
Texas catches my eye. There are two host cities in the Lone Star State – Houston and Dallas – and they are well placed for Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey in Mexico.
Houston in particular has world-class tourist attractions such as Space Center Houston, and even a seaside resort in the shape of Galveston.
Dallas has the advantage of hosting one of the two semi-finals (the other is in Atlanta). In addition, Houston and Dallas have plenty of low-cost flights to other venues.
For a real budget World Cup experience for neutrals who simply want to soak up the atmosphere, I recommend beautiful Guadalajara in southwest Mexico: close to Pacific beaches, and just outside one of the many “no-go” areas of Mexico to which the Foreign Office warns against travel.
Fares from London Heathrow via Dallas on British Airways and American Airlines are currently £1,100 return, though cheaper deals may be available if you route yourself via Cancun, using a holiday flight and onward connections on Mexican budget airlines.
In the 2018 World Cup in I randomly booked tickets for a less-in-demand match, Croatia v Nigeria, in Kaliningrad, and will aim to do the same for Mexico in 2026.
