An England superfan from Stafford has revealed how he spent just £1,400 instead of almost £12,000 on tickets to see England play in the 2026 World Cup. Alex Wickett saved a huge £10,348.06 when he picked up conditional tickets to England's round of 16, quarter and semi-finals for a total of £1,433.
How he saved thousands
The 25-year-old joined the England Supporters Travel Club in 2022 and has been building up points by attending all friendlies and qualifiers home and away. This allowed him to buy tickets directly through the FA, putting £2,000 he saved himself towards the tickets. He dipped into savings to attend qualifiers as his plan was to 'save himself' from reselling platforms and bag some cheaper tickets.
If he were to buy on the FIFA ticketing platform for all three games without his membership, the total would come to an eye-watering £11,787.50. Alex said: "It's extortionate and it hurts but it's not as bad as I was looking at to buy on resale."
Confidence in England's chances
Even if England do not make it through to the semis, Alex still plans to make the trip. He will receive a refund for the tickets he has purchased – though he admits he is 'the most confident' he has ever been that England can bring it home. "Even as a kid growing up I never thought we had a manager in place to get it over the line. Thomas Tuchel has been building a team of the best 26 players and the club, atmosphere and camaraderie between those 26 players has taken things to another level," he said.
"Being up close and personal at a tournament for my first ever World Cup will be super special and to be around people of different nationalities. My thought was people going out for the group stages will make accommodation more expensive. I decided to hold off until the Mexico City game. I mapped out our group and the round of 16 group is in Mexico – it's cheaper and will allow me to stay longer."
Membership boom
Alex joined the England Supporters Travel Club in 2022 when it had just 8,500 members, but it has now risen to over 33,000. He is set to fly out to Atlanta on Friday, July 3, before returning on Friday, July 17.
"I'm staying in Mexico City and paying £15 per night in a hostel to keep it as cheap as possible. Then I'll quickly move on to Cancun to another £15 per night hostel and stay by the beach and see one of the wonders of the world Chichén Itzá. Hopefully I'll be flying out to Miami for the quarter final. In Miami I'm staying in an apartment there. It's a little bit more expensive on the American leg so it's more in terms of accommodation and I'm looking at around $500. I'm checking out a baseball game in Miami," he added.
Life as a football fan
Alex has grown up as a non-league football supporter for Stafford Rangers and volunteers for the team too. He has visited 252 football grounds and 36 countries over the last four years. "I left Stafford for university in Leeds and got a feel for going to football grounds around Yorkshire. Gradually it became more of a groundhopping journey. Gradually over the last couple of years I've been to as many countries as I can in Europe and just enjoyed the experience of football in less appreciated countries and showed through my social channels that football is underappreciated in some countries like Sweden, Norway and Switzerland," he said.
"If I was to consider travel, accommodation, match tickets, pin badges, I would expect my hobby has seen me spend well in excess of £30,000. My dream in life is to go to every country in the world to watch football in every country and show people football means so much to so many, and is a much bigger game than we all think. Football isn't about billionaires, hydration breaks, advertisers, it's about the every day fan, who works hard to follow their club home and away out of pride for their community and love for their team."
Full trip cost breakdown
Flights: July 3 – Heathrow to Atlanta return: £757; July 4 – Atlanta to Mexico City: £288.65; July 7 – Mexico City to Cancun: £61.10; July 10 – Cancun to Miami: £130.70; July 13 – Miami to Atlanta: £89.94. Total: £1,327.39.
Accommodation: July 4 and 5 – Mexico City - two nights in a hotel with a friend: £30; July 6 - Mexico City – Hostel Mexico: £11.67; July 7-10 – Cancun – Nomads Hostel: £44.25; July 10-13 – Miami: £413.12; July 13-17 – Atlanta: £502.71. Total: £1,001.75.
Tickets: Round of 16: £224.08; Quarter final: £516.53; Semi final: £698.83. Total: £1,439.44.
Trip total: £3,768.58.
