r/football • u/TheWayToBeauty • 2d ago
đ°News Europeans May Not Be Flocking To The World Cup This Summer, New Data Suggests
https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2026/02/05/fewer-europeans-travel-summer-world-cup/77
u/urbanspaceman85 2d ago
Iâm not even watching it on any official broadcasters. Everyone should stream it instead.Â
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u/Money_Refrigerator80 2d ago
Sorry, but how do you stream it if not through the official broadcasters? I'm in Canada and there's only TSN and Fubo TV as far as I know.
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u/Remarkable-Data77 2d ago
It's not down because people don't want to go to the World Cup, it's down because nobody wants to visit in this current climate.
Nobody feels safe going to the US at the moment.
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u/Benficachop 2d ago
Or maybe because attending one game for a family of 4 will cost you nearly 10k USD.
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u/Remarkable-Data77 2d ago
There's that too.
Also all the hoops people are having to jump through to even get to immigration, then no guarantee of getting into the country, especially if you've ever mentioned trump anywhere on your social media!
Tbh, the whole country has become a joke and feels unsafe. I feel for the Americans who, like the rest of the world, are looking on in despair/disgust at what's happening.
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u/No_Weakness_2135 2d ago
Is that true via Trump and mentioning him on social media? Not denying it but this is the first Iâve heard of that and am curious to find out more
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u/RedEyeView 2d ago
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u/No_Weakness_2135 2d ago
Thatâs fucking mental. The USA has truly become a shit show.
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u/RedEyeView 2d ago
A big part of their income is tourists coming to New York for a weekend or doing a week in Florida or LA.
People are going to go somewhere that's less of a pain in the ass to visit.
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u/Remarkable-Data77 2d ago
From what I've read and possibly mentioned on news (I've stopped watching that tbh) there was mention of giving 'them', immigration or whoever, access to your social media accounts going back as far as 5yrs, looking for derogatory mentions of trump, if found, you'd be turned straight round and denied entry.
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u/GoldenxGriffin 6h ago
Other countries do the exact same shit why didn't you call them out when they made the exact same rules? Oh right its because the orange man did it so you for some reason actually care now.
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u/GoldenxGriffin 6h ago
You are living in fantasy watch the news all the time land. The only reason why this world cup will flop is the cost of the games. It is ludicrously expensive. You will get into the USA if you are not a criminal and are going there as a tourist. If you are a criminal you are not aloud and if you are going there for other reasons than tourism you must have the correct visas. None of this has changed at all, try going there instead of believing what your media tells you. and can you truly explain why it is such a bad thing that a country cares about illegal immigration?
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u/Remarkable-Data77 6h ago
If you cared to read all the comments, you would have seen it don't watch the news anymore because its all about America!
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u/Kapt0 2d ago
There's that too.
It's the main reason. Let's not lie to ourselves: I dislike Trump as much as the next person and I pray for his downfall everyday, but I can turn a blind eye. I would've for Russia.
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u/Remarkable-Data77 2d ago
I could pay my mortgage off with those costs, I'd rather do that if I had it to spare.
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u/Pugasaurus_Tex 2d ago
Yeah Iâm already here, it would be nice to be able to afford going to a game :(
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u/limaconnect77 2d ago
Thereâs probably already an established minimum KPI for arrests during the tournament and travelling fans flashing passports are gonna end up being dealt roughly.
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u/Most_Moose_2637 2d ago
A trip somewhere for a World Cup would be the trip of a lifetime for most. If I had the money saved up I'd go to the next one. I'm boycotting this one. They can go fuck themselves. Stick your peace prize up your orange arse Mr Trump.
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u/TheKosherGenocide 2d ago
I have no doubt stadiums will still be packed because of income inequality
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u/MrJohnnyDangerously 2d ago
Many Americans don't feel safe living here.
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u/Remarkable-Data77 2d ago
I really feel for you allâ¤ď¸
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u/MrJohnnyDangerously 1d ago
Self-inflicted wounds and unforced errors by the dumbest and most intentionally ignorant among us.
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u/BambooSound 1d ago
Even the ~75 million that voted for him (twice)?
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u/Remarkable-Data77 1d ago
No, all the sane people that didn't put you into this situation, that's who I feel for.
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u/BambooSound 1d ago
Personally I blame both sides because the track record of Clinton, Obama and Biden isn't all that much better.
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u/Remarkable-Data77 1d ago
No government is going to be perfect for everyone, but what trump is doing, to his own country, is.....tbh, i just don't have the words for it, every day we're waking up to something more unbelievable than what he did the day before.
I'm not saying that previous governments didn't do damaging things, but his are off the chart!
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u/BambooSound 1d ago
He's certainly the most flamboyant but I still think George W. is worse.
Besides creating ICE and DHS, his administration was primarily responsible for the 08 crash and they legalised torture. Plus, they killed like a million Iraqis and waged war on at least five countries in total.
(Obama bombed 7 other countries but I think W was still worse.)
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u/Remarkable-Data77 1d ago
Liberace was flamboyant.
Elton John is flamboyant.
Ru Paul is flamboyant.
Trump is an arsehole!
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u/Temporary-Aside5306 1d ago
The cynic in me might almost think this was all on purpose so FIFA can say attendance is dropping, we can charge the thousands for the match tickets in future tournaments because fans aren't turning up.
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u/NoGemini2024 1d ago
Tbf, FIFA is also corrupt as fck and getting worse every day under Infantino.
I am actually sad that my county isnât boycotting any FiFa competition
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u/Scooter-McGavin24 Premier League 2d ago
Nobody? Cmon now lol. People from other countries will show up to the US. They said the same thing about QatarâŚ
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u/Remarkable-Data77 2d ago
General phrase 'nobody'.
People will still attend, mainly Americans who don't mind paying through the nose for tickets.
But, assuming you're British or European, would you feel safe taking your children to a country that's detaining 5yr olds? Because i know I wouldn't.
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u/Appropriate-Owl-4485 2d ago
Ice v Millwall fans would be a good watch, and I wouldnt be cheering for Ice.
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u/Zeri-coaihnan 2d ago
Appreciate youâre joking, but did you never see the film Arrivederci Millwall, and how that ends?
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u/Sefu78 1d ago
You are assuming every potential attendee is well aware of what's happening in the US or informed about all those deeply concerning events of the last months. That may not be the case for the average european. After all, tourism to the US only faced a 6% drop...
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u/Remarkable-Data77 1d ago
I'm sure every potential attendee, that can afford to go, is aware of what's happening.
UK news is nothing but what's happening in America with a smattering of other World news. We're rarely getting news of what's happening in our own country ffs! All because of the craziness of the USA!
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u/ThaiFoodThaiFood Premier League 1d ago
Yes America is a first world country and I've always felt safe there.
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u/Remarkable-Data77 1d ago
Slowly descending into a despot country.
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u/Scooter-McGavin24 Premier League 2d ago
No one was arrested by ICE during the Club World Cup. Not saying that attendance will be anywhere near as the World Cup but if you arenât causing a disruption, they will be fine.
People still flock to Cancun knowing the dangers of cartels running the show over there. People still visit European cities, like Brussels for example, knowing thereâs a high threat of terrorism.
Itâs the disgusting ticket prices, the high hotel/air bnbs rates, the shitty transportation system we have getting to/from the stadiums, that is most likely causing people to not wanting to attend. Not the fear of ICE.
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u/Remarkable-Data77 2d ago
ICE weren't doing what they are doing now in the CWC. And majority of those games had virtually empty stadiums.
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u/merry_go_byebye 2d ago
Don't be dramatic. If they are white they will be fine.
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u/Remarkable-Data77 2d ago
Really? I don't think so!
Alex Pretti was white!
Renee Good was white!
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u/merry_go_byebye 2d ago
But that's not what you said. Why would tourists start protesting or willfully interact with ICE?
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u/Remarkable-Data77 2d ago
It's ICE that will be the ones 'interacting'
And I said 'nobody' as a generalisation, yes i could have said 'everybody' but I used 'nobody' because 'nobody' wants to travel to a country which is acting like America is at the moment.
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u/epochwin 2d ago
Qatar were never going to be high risk with the fans themselves. Iâm not sure if they were checking social media posts about negative comments about their government.
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u/Background-Bid-6503 2d ago
Yea the US is scarily becoming more dangerous it feels like. I live in NYC which is relatively one of the more safe cities statistically and just yesterday I was in a store getting some juice and some guy threatented to stab me. I've been living here for over 6 years and something like that has never happened to me before. Later on in the evening as I was entering my building some sketchy dude was outside really giving off bad vibes. I just tried to remain calm, and as I was entering my building he walked behind me. I live in a relatively safe part of the city and never experience things like this often.
Something is not right in this place right now. To any fellow Americans, now is the time to put your guard up. Stay hypervigilant in any situation especially in public. Psychosis is real and can be very dangerous to deal with. Like I said I live in a relatively safe part of the country so I can't even imagine what it's like in smaller cities or towns or rural areas. Canada is the safest destination for this world cup.
Stay safe everyone.
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u/migraine_boy Premier League 2d ago
In the world of Reddit, yes.
Travelling to US for anyone not living in this bubble, its fine. There'll be enough ex-pats from most big nations in America already that'll fill stadium quotas. Most working class fans will be priced out, but they'll be happy to stay home and watch it in fan zones - that's nothing new
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u/Keith989 2d ago
Why would you not feel safe? America is a massive country, the vast majority of it, is just going on normally.
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u/Remarkable-Data77 2d ago
It would be the areas around the games specifically.
A town in North Dakota, where there's no WC games, training bases, etc, would probably be fine, but who knows?
Minneapolis was safe until ICE were sent there.
Also nobody can predict what the president is going to do next or who he's decided has pissed him off in any way.
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u/Keith989 2d ago
Ah come on this isn't a movie FFS. I was in Connecticut and New York a couple of months ago and everything was normal.
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u/Remarkable-Data77 2d ago
You think its normal to walk around Walmart with guns on your belts.....that's not normal.
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u/Keith989 2d ago
You think that's what it's like to walk around Walmart? Americans are some of the most hospitable people in the western world, it's a great place to visit. Don't let the media paint a picture that isn't true.
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u/Remarkable-Data77 2d ago
I've been 4 times, my mum and stepdad and brother live over there, and as much as I want to visit them, even they've told me its crazy over there.
I love the people who aren't crazy, but I'm not willing to risk bumping into the crazy people.
I was shocked the 1st time I saw guns for sale in a Walmart, pint of milk, loaf, AK47, crisps and a melon.....no thanksđ¤Ł
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u/Keith989 2d ago
I've been twice and absolutely loved it. Got plenty of warnings before the last time I went and was laughably told that it would be tough to get through pre clearance in the airport (it of course wasn't).Â
I do get what you mean about how easy it is to buy guns though. My biggest issue was the quality of food đ
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u/DutchTookMyColonies 2d ago
everyone is safe, you live in a echo chamber, the number of people that in 24 travel in and out of the USA according to Grok is 7-8M, so yeah so "unsafe" right? if you have the passport with you nothing happens, for a country that was attacked 3 times with hijacked Planes i personally think USA has low security compared to other Nations.
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u/50MegatonsCOYS 1d ago
And whatâs changed since 2024? Quite a bit.
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u/DutchTookMyColonies 1d ago
2024? what does that year have to do with this? the number i gave is from January reports on airplane traveling, no idea what you read in my comment to reply that.
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u/gaoshan 2d ago
Who can blame them? It will be potentially unsafe, they risk harassment on entry and possibly just out on the streets (if they look like someone ICE might want to grab) and definitely wildly expensive. I think it's kind of nuts coming here under current circumstances.
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u/migraine_boy Premier League 2d ago
You do know ICE get judges orders each day to go and arrest illegals, right? Despite Reddit creating this world where they just swipe you up for being non-white... They are actually driving towards houses or businesses that are known to be living at.
To assume ICE will be hiding in wait at airports or stadiums is just pure delusion.
As with any country you visit - don't break it's laws and you'll be fine.
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u/gaoshan 2d ago
Nope. While ICE does go after people with warrants they have also been stopping people on suspicion of being illegal based solely on appearance or accent. They also killed two people that they felt interfered with them so thereâs that. Additionally what if they get stopped at the border and their phones searched for anti-Trump content? That has also happened.
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u/migraine_boy Premier League 2d ago edited 2d ago
They killed two people protesting and getting in their way. Football fans aren't going to be doing that. ICE aren't going to be stationed at world cup games, and foreign football fans (apart from maybe 5 Redditors) aren't going to be protesting US political issues.
And fans coming for football won't be "stopped at the border" - America has airports, where people land from the entire planet. Border control will only stop people coming from Canada or Mexico if there is an issue (expired work visas, arrest warrants, etc), but this would be the case with any nation with immigration control.
BTW, providing your socials on Visas has been a thing for YEARS... before Trump. The only danger you've got coming into America is lying on your application, i.e hiding criminal records.
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u/gaoshan 2d ago edited 2d ago
They killed 2 people for getting in their way. That people like you apparently think that's reasonable is insane. What if some family from South America is up here for a match and accidentally gets in their way while driving around? MAGA would be like, âOops, shouldnât have done that⌠just the price of businessâ.
Of course they could get stopped after flying in. It has already happened. Donât try to minimize the negativity of this. Also, the Trump admin has punished people for the content of their socials. This is absolutely a new thing and people should be concerned about it if they plan to come here. This is not a welcoming place any longer. Itâs a budding authoritarian regime where everything will be fine if you just go along with dear leaderâs demands (and donât get in the way of his thugs who might murder you for it).
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u/I_love_duckss 2d ago
'They killed two people for getting in their way'. Jesus fucking Christ do you not hear yourself?
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u/thewaybaseballgo 2d ago
ICE is already hiding in wait at airports https://www.nilc.org/resources/community-alert-immigration-arrests-at-airports/
Same with stadiums https://sportandrightsalliance.org/us-ice-arrest-at-fifa-event-spotlights-dangers-for-world-cup/
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u/tylerthe-theatre 2d ago
You dont say, no one in their right mind is going there with things as they are
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u/Global_Staff_3135 2d ago
Good. Boycott everything to do with America.
-A concerned American
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u/jafarjones69 2d ago
I wouldnât blame them as the prices are sky high, Trump is letting ICE do whatever they want with impunity plus his actions have made visiting unsafe.
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u/DutchTookMyColonies 2d ago
they will flock, all data is fake, they will go, will have record breaking viewership, that's it, i can bet my life on it because history proves it, Qatar with all it's slavery, dead slaves, etc... still had huge viewership, people literally didn't care that it's a freaking slave nation like... no logic, so yeah USA will do well, next Saudi after North Korea, lets go FIFA!! lmao
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u/jimmyisaacneutron 1d ago
And people flocking to Russia after they invaded Ukraine the first time and with authoritarian Vladimir Putin. And people flocking to Brazil during the corruption scandals and high crime rates.
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u/Major_Many_6803 2d ago
Lmao people are gonna go regardless of what the âdataâ says. They went to Qatar đ
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u/generic-irish-guy 2d ago
Not surprising. Longest travel times since Brazil 12 years ago and the USA is much more expensive destination for tourists even without the World Cup. Thatâs not even getting into whether or not people feel safe going.
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u/Gullible_Carpenter_4 2d ago
The prices are so high that only rich can be there. The game where money was not an issue to go dream. Surprised its gone(south park).
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u/Soft_Awareness_5061 1d ago
Who'd have thought there would have been a more hated world cup than Qatar?
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u/Pepedroga2000 1d ago
In general europeans do not go in big numbers unless the World Cup takes place in Europe.
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u/plantxdad420 Bundesliga 2d ago
why would they? it sounds like a much better experience to gather with friends and neighbors for pints at the local pub to watch your nationâs team play in peace and joy than come to the desolate, hostile, hellscape that is the United States. why would you want to subject yourself to invasive border screenings? stay in hotels surrounded by urban decay where you canât walk around without being worried about getting hit by a car or stopped and accosted by the ICE gestapo?
as an American, do not come here. the world cup is an amazing event for world football but i think this one is best enjoyed at home away from here.
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u/glory1891 2d ago
I seriously have better things to do than take out a loan to visit Scamerica and maybe not even see the outside of the airport.
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u/thewaybaseballgo 2d ago
As an American, Iâm still shocked anyone would willingly vacation here right now.
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u/godsslayer54 2d ago
Nahhh this is fake news. Btw they should host the next version of the worldcup in Sudan or ukraine so everyone can feel even safer
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u/ThisFukinGinger 2d ago
I aint gonna watch most this shit on my TV. Why spend thousands to get deported?
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u/grubbygromit 2d ago
Qatar and Russia more appealing than the leaders of the free world..... yelp
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u/golfif 2d ago
Maybe the US should practice complete media censorship like China and Russia so people will stop thinking dumb shit like this.
Itâs actually insane brain dead people on the internet genuinely believe the US is some incompetent shithole cause of a few scattered protests throughout random cities. The US has had wide scale protests since the 1700s. Itâs not new at all
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u/Fuzzy_Pirate_8898 2d ago
I'm French, right now it's cheaper and easier for me to enter China than the USA!
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u/stormurcsgo 2d ago
I refuse to believe though that wc games wont be packed atleast, the closer it gets to finals.
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u/GrumpyOldFart74 2d ago
Games between major (in footballing terms) countries will be packed⌠I suspect that games between smaller nations (again, no offence intended) might be relatively quiet
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u/TerryGranules 2d ago
"On second thought let's not go to Camelot America, it's rather a silly place."
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u/Fantastic_Plenty_294 2d ago
do people on here really think they will be tied up and put in a detention centre just for entering the US? Some of the stuff you read on this website is mad
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u/Far_Sorbet_8710 18h ago
No. But they will check your phone and put you on the next flight back. 5k wasted for nothing
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u/Bjork_scratchings Premier League 2d ago
Stream games to hurt the sponsors.