Have you got World Cup fever? You’ll want to know what it’s like visiting Atlanta for the World Cup!
Until I met J I was never into football. I did find myself becoming a bit more interested around big tournaments like the World Cup or the Euros. Now, I am a Burnley season ticket holder and go to 95% of their home games. We also watch football at home when it works, and I’m much more into it.
When J pitched visiting Atlanta for the World Cup, my first America experience, to visit our friends and to see a tournament game, I was all in. Yes it was expensive compared to some of our trips, but it’s a once in a lifetime experience. How often is a major tournament in your friends’ home city?
Watching a football match when it’s your team can be exciting but also stressful. And, if the result doesn’t go your way, it’s not always a positive experience. Watching a game where the result doesn’t really matter to you can be much more enjoyable. I was just excited about seeing World Cup football, live.
Visiting Atlanta for the World Cup is something so many people couldn’t have done. We were lucky, and I knew I wanted to write about my experience.
How easy was it to get World Cup tickets?
When we got our World Cup tickets, the dates, city and ticket prices were confirmed, but the teams playing were not. There was a ballot and you applied for tickets up to a certain price for a certain game. Then, you either got some, or you didn’t.
J tried to get some but was unsuccessful. Our friend managed to get a few sets for a few games, knowing he had us and some other people who would want to attend. The game we got was on June 15th at noon, which ended up being Spain v Cape Verde.
Spain are of course the current European champions; they beat England in the final. Cape Verde were in the World Cup for the first time, so this would be their first EVER World Cup game. That’s incredibly cool. We expected Spain to win easily, and decided we’d cheer on Cape Verde.
How much did the World Cup tickets cost?
Tickets cost us around £100 each, which compared to a Burnley game at home was very high, but I think the price was absolutely worth it. We also looked at going to a second game, South Africa v Czechia, which was also being played in the city when we were visiting Atlanta for the World Cup. We were hoping ticket prices would come down, but they didn’t drop low enough to be affordable, sadly.
Resale tickets seemed to be available for all games as long as you were willing to pay a premium. The World Cup ticket-buying experience has been complex and getting them well in advance that was trickier.
Visiting Atlanta for the World Cup – getting to the stadium
Getting into the stadium was quick and easy. We used the MARTA, Atlanta’s public transport system, to get from Brookhaven into central Atlanta. On the train, in the stations and in the streets we were surrounded by people in all sorts of football shirts.
Some were wearing Spain or Cape Verde, others were wearing their home country’s shirt or even their home team’s. We would have been fine in an England shirt or a Burnley shirt. It was just a crowd full of people who loved football, and it was joyous to see so many different teams represented.
The short walk to the stadium was quick and well signposted. There were World Cup volunteers everywhere offering help, where needed, and welcome greetings to everyone. I’ve never felt more welcome than when visiting Atlanta for the World Cup, the people are so friendly.
Getting into the stadium itself was pretty simple. There were queues but they moved fast. FIFA’s clear bag policy meant security checks were a quick scan with a metal detector. Whilst the concourses were busy, we got food pretty quickly.
Atlanta’s stadium blew my mind. When we first started talking about visiting Atlanta for the World Cup, I knew it would be bigger than a lot of ours. I did not expect it to be quite as big as it was. Holding about 68,000 people, it’s one of the biggest World Cup stadiums for this year’s tournament.
Walking along the concourse and turning the corner for the first time to catch a view of the pitch-wow. Absolutely amazing, as you can see from my photos. It definitely helped that the crowd was so great, but I think it would have been amazing at any event.
What were the extra costs of visiting Atlanta for the World Cup?
The train to the station cost us $2.50, about £1.89. Our friends drove their car to the MARTA station, otherwise we would have spent about £10 on an Uber. Food inside the Atlanta stadium is really cheap, we paid $15 for a hotdog, some fries, a water and a refillable soda in a souvenir cup. The soda was $2 more expensive because I wanted the cup, and it was absolutely worth it.
We did look at merchandise inside the stadium but there was nothing I fancied, and prices were high. I may have bought a World Cup t-shirt if they’d been cheaper, or a stuffed mascot. But at $25 for the mascot I couldn’t justify it.
We later bought an Atlanta World Cup poster from a pop-up merch stand in the mall, for $20. It’s really big, looks great and will be framed on our wall. I also bought a few bits of merch from different shops and a couple of tote bags for a few dollars each.
Would it have been better to see an England game?
Seeing England was never an option for us as we chose Atlanta deliberately to see our friends. We had always intended on a visit and timed it alongside the World Cup, we wouldn’t have gone anywhere else in America for a game.
Honestly, whilst we would have loved to see England play, it was nice to go to a game that had no consequence for us, and relax and enjoy the football. It turned out that we’d accidentally got an amazing game, as Cape Verde surprised everyone by drawing 0-0 with Spain, something absolutely no one saw coming.
Cape Verde’s goalkeeper, Vozinha, is 40 years old and saved every single Spanish attempt-absolutely amazing. We’ve joked that Burnley could do with a new goalkeeper… but we won’t get that lucky!
The crowd were also really good. I’ve read a lot of people online saying that people are trying hard to be super kind at this tournament, and that’s definitely been my experience. I’ve not seen any aggressive fan behaviour, just pure joy and people being friendly.
Visiting Atlanta for the World Cup – the fan festival
J and I chose to explore the Fan Festival in the Centennial Olympic Park on the Wednesday, rather than on the day of the match itself. Initially we were planning to go on Thursday for the South Africa game but due to a weather warning, it was only open 11am-3pm on that day.
We didn’t fancy getting caught in a bad storm so pivoted to having a look on Wednesday. That meant we caught the first half of Portugal v DR Congo, including a great equalising goal for the African side.
You can go to the fan festival even if you don’t have tickets for a game, it’s at a different location. Waffle House is just over the road and many of Atlanta’s main attractions are a few minutes away.
Fan festival tickets when visiting Atlanta for the World Cup
When visiting Atlanta for the World Cup, you do need to book the fan festival tickets in advance. The basic tickets are free, but you can pay extra for access to facilities like a more private bar..
Like the stadium, the fan festival at the park had a clear bag policy and we were able to fill our water bottles for free. It had a few different bars with no queues, because no one was buying anything!
They were charging $20 for a can of beer and $25 for a cocktail in a souvenir football-shaped cup, which looked cool but was NOT worth $25. I didn’t look at the food, but suspect it was just as expensive.
One thing to note is it was very hot and there wasn’t always a lot of shade, so if you’re going, plan accordingly.
The fan festival had a lot of free, brand-sponsored things to do. There was a large mural you could stick a magnet on and win a little prize (sweets or a souvenir pin), a game where you kicked footballs at paint pots on a screen and won another souvenir pin, free Home Depot-branded cardboard fans, and even a charm bracelet you could make via Bank of America.
I was queueing for that but realised the queue gave you a wristband with a time slot. That was going to be hours after we’d left, so sadly no charm bracelet for me!
Did the whole city have World Cup fever?
Some places did, some places did not. When visiting Atlanta for the World Cup, we spotted a few football-themed photo ops, like a giant trophy outside the World of Coca Cola and a replica match ball at Lenox Square mall. I love a photo opportunity so I’ve taken quite a few.
Not everyone is into football, even if it doesn’t seem that way when you’re surrounded by it. Perhaps it’s not surprising that parts of the city are carrying on as normal, as they should.
It was cool to spot all of the football-related things across the places we visited and it always brought a bit of joy from me to see bits and pieces.
Do I have World Cup fever?
Yup. I am a person who hyperfocuses on something and, throughout my time in America, I enjoyed being able to watch lots of online World Cup content. Seeing TikToks of the Scottish fans, the Tartan Army, exploring Boston (and Boston falling in love with them) was amazing. I had to try very hard not to bore everyone around me with this new obsession.
Now I’m back at work I obviously won’t have as much time to follow what’s going on. That’s sad-but I do need to do my actual job!
Our friends’ boys had a Panini sticker album and are collecting the World Cup stickers. I really enjoyed opening some packs with them, working out which were new, which were swaps, and sticking them in. The temptation to start my own collection is strong!
Would I go again?
Yes, 100% yes! I wouldn’t (couldn’t!) fly back to America during this World Cup, as finances and annual leave absolutely don’t allow it, and I’m still recovering from jetlag anyway. But the next World Cup, across Spain, Morocco and Portugal, is already in our diary. It helps that those countries are much closer to us and countries we have already visited and enjoyed, but I definitely want to see more World Cup football in the flesh.
I’ll be watching as many games as possible from home for the rest of this tournament, around needing to get enough sleep for my 9-5, and at the time of editing this post I’m looking forward to tonight’s 9pm England game and tomorrow’s 10pm Scotland game.
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