My World Cup 2022: By The Numbers
It wouldn’t be me if there wasn’t a bunch of random statistics for people to mull over. I left New York on November 19th and I arrived back in JFK on December 20th. Here are some metrics for the 4 and a half weeks I was away, posted nearly a month later.
Random Stats
483 Visitors and 1,388 Views on the blog! Over the past 60 days. I’ll take it!
Obviously peaked in the first week and the Final
I took 16 15 flights
For an estimated total of 51:30 of flight time, yeah apparently over the last month I spent over two days in the air
One was fully cancelled, three had… issues
I spent probably a bit more than 40 hours in airports
I planned / booked 43 total flights, not to mention the 9 I had/have to get refunds for when things didn’t go to schedule…
I went to 6 countries
Qatar, UAE, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, & Egypt
It took 186 Action Items to plan this trip
Post Trip I have 19 more Action Items to complete
I went to 11 (out of 64) matches across 5 (of the 8) stadiums
(I also want to briefly complain about the “influencers” who did all 64 matches; what a waste of money and valuable tickets that should have gone to people who would have appreciated it more)
These 11 World Cup games hurdled FIFA into fourth place in my list of most attended “leagues/tournaments”, behind the US Open (tennis), the NFL, and the NCAA (broad category / multiple sports)
It also makes Qatar’s 11 matches, my fourth highest location of attendance after New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts
I ate McDonalds 7 times, usually because they intelligently are open where and when no one else is
I had 43 alcoholic beverages; only 5 were on land in Qatar (I say that because flying Qatar Airways or being on a cruise ship in Doha don’t technically count)
I took 36 taxis / Careems (the Uber/Lyft regional equivalent)
I watched 31 goals live
I wore 14 diferent soccer jerseys
I did laundry twice
I took 12 PTO days
Financial Discussion
I have often read travel blogs and reviews and typically missing from it are the actual costs that were spent. And as someone who is always interested in the financial side of travel, and is a proponent of normalizing personal finance discussions (pay transparency and socializing income with friends and family), I thought I’d take a step and provide some of the cost detail so people better understand what it took to do this trip and hopefully some knowledge has been spread. I’d provide more, but honestly I’m still recovering from the trip and haven’t done all the accounting yet.
There are some caveats. The first is, going solo is much more expensive than going as a group. So certain expenses are higher than others dependent on how many people you can share things like accommodations or taxis with, so you can save with a larger party. The second / third are that I am very privileged to have a strong family safety net. So I am able to save and spend at likely a much different rate than the average person. And in tandem with that, my father bankrolled a week there (that he was supposed to attend, but had to cancel due to work obligations), the Dubai and Jordan portion. Points / miles are advantageous as well. Now, I didn’t use any points / miles for my flights (as generally doing so (finding an advantageous transfer scheme, specific airline partner, and flight) means you need more flexibility and often layover elsewhere or be upgrading a flight), and I wanted to be as direct with my time, dates, and destinations, nor do I care about first class). However, I did use points to reduce the cost on things like hotels. The fifth occurred during the trip, realizing savings in person. Without alcohol to buy, free public transit or cheap taxis, meant I only really spent on food, which turned out to be very easy to eat well for under $10 a meal.
These amounts are all adjusted to per person (aren’t families really expensive? I don’t understand how people do it) (also not sure how to properly display spreadsheets on SquareSpace, so they have to be images):
Cost of Flights
Cost of Accommodations
I stayed out there for an average of $135 per night. Often many of these places included breakfast. The cruise included transportation and tours technically.
Cost of World Cup Tickets
11 Matches for an average of $300 per ticket. But a huge variation, if you remove the two most expensive (an ill advised impulse purchase on a reseller’s website to go to England v. France, and the obviously expensive final ticket), the average is about $180. There were some great deals to be had. Highly coveted Category 3’s were the best value, but this is because FIFA divvies up the stadium strangely. You could sit in the first tier behind the nets for the least cost. Their availability though was highly difficult, as people realized they were worth a gamble for every match and you could always find a buyer. Considering the next category up was 2.5x in cost, the tiers were just poorly planned. My two Category 3’s both came from Todd being extremely opportunistic for tickets.
I was very lucky that for 9 of the matches I was in the first tier (or 1.5 which is the higher portion of the first tier). Partially due to the small sizes of the stadiums though. Clearly as my USA TST package seats were less relevant they started relegating me further away from the pitch, but considering the price and ability to plan, I would make the deal again. Especially considering that the secondary market is always available for tickets that you can’t use.
I may have mentioned this before, but I won a lottery in January to purchase a Team Specific Ticket Series (or TST) for the USA. There are 3 versions. TST3, TST4, and TST7. As you can guess from the number, it is the number of tickets in the package. I won the latter. The 7. One guaranteed ticket for each round. I would have a ticket to every USA match, and if they got knocked out I would follow the winner. Each ticket series cost $2,916. But you can see how it’s heavily weighted on the semi-final and final tickets. A TST3 or TST4 are both much more affordable and are great value.
I used 20 of the 28 TST tickets on friends and family. Of the remaining 8; 3 were sold back to FIFA for a 5% loss (still waiting on the refund), 3 were sold at face value to Americans in our Facebook group, and 2 were sold on the resale market. Despite my moral issues with ticket toting, FIFA isn’t a host that needs or deserves their optimal revenue. I got rid of the pair of quarterfinal tickets for more than double their face value. Also, it was my favorite match, so I really don’t feel bad since it was amazing. Arguably a better ticket than the semi-final equivalency.
I’m curious to see how the ticketing system will be designed for the next World Cup, I hear this category system is quite common for World Cups, I just fail to see how established economically-driven American stadiums will accept such a strange illogical system, whose only pro is sheer simplicity. Based on this one tournament, the matches with the best value / experience have to be the third Group Stage round to the Quarter Finals. I might even suggest skipping the Round of 16 if you’re looking to get the most bang for your buck. If you look at the face value chart of my TST; all group stage matches are priced the same, you can get a lot of excitement for that final round. The Round of 16 can have some lopsided affairs, but by the Quarterfinals, it’s basically all big teams going up against each other, and the prices haven’t gotten out of hand, like they will for the semis and finals.
Hopefully you found this interesting and has taken a step in normalizing the discussion of personal finance. And I didn’t just embarrass myself. I’m always happy to help brainstorm, design, and plan if you have any ideas, so always feel free to reach out. I will post a separate entry about World Cup 2026, where I plan on helping keep people informed and have as many people apply for tickets as possible because demand will be out of hand.
Lists
I also started just writing down the best ofs and worst ofs the trip. It expanded to more categories, so enjoy these bullet point overviews.
Top 5 Moments
Wout Weghorst scores in the 100th minute to tie Argentina and send the match to extra time
Julian am apple (Kylian Mbappe’s iPhone autocorrection) scores to tie the World Cup Final and send it to extra time
Getting back together with Mattos with a glass of Egyptian sparkling wine on our Mena House private patio looking at the Pyramids of Giza
Wandering with my cat pal and listening to my 2022 Spotify Wrapped at the High Place of Sacrifice above Petra until/through closing
Watching the sun set over Richard Serra’s East West with Mattos
Top Moments: Honorable Mentions (chronological order)
Japan comes back and beats Germany, followed by a double header with Belgium v. Canada
Tribe for dinner with a view of the Burj Khalifa and the fountain show with Zoe
Dead Sea floating and spa experience with Zoe
Walking through the Al Siq canyon and coming upon the Treasury at Petra with mom and Zoe
10 Minute period when the USA had a chance of coming back against the Netherlands
The USA players applauding us in the Supporters section as a reciprocal farewell and appreciation
Hot tub on the MSC Europa with a beer staring at the Doha Skyline
Swimming in Qurm beach in Oman at sunset
The Argentina atmosphere at the Netherlands QF match
The Pyramids of Giza with Enass and Mattos
The boat on Lake Nasser viewing Abu Simbel
Dinner, drinks, and star gazing at the Eskaleh Nubian Ecolodge with Mattos
Felucca sail on the Nile River with Mattos
Wandering Karnak Temple at sunset with Mattos
Holding Mattos as she overcoming her fear of heights on a hot air balloon over Luxor
A quiet and explorative descent of Ramses V/VI at the Valley of the Kings with Mattos
The Qatar airways plane taking off from Cairo with Mattos and heading back to Doha for the last time
Driving (Qatari drifting) off road in the desert with Mattos
Dinner at Jiwan for a final meal in Qatar with Mattos
Worst 5 Moments
Missing the flight from Dubai to Doha for USA v. England and stressing about getting another flight
Not having a booking from Doha to Cairo and missing a museum tour with Mattos
Rescheduled flight out of Abu Simbel and having to coordinate a weird last minute 3 hour drive
Having only 10 minutes at the Temple of Hatshepsut
Delayed Egypt Air flight from Luxor to Cairo, stressing our connection to the Qatar airways flight
Worst Moments: Honorable Mentions (no order)
Rescheduled (and not being told) flight out of Cairo to Abu Simbel, when we could have slept
The hot overcrowded Lusail metro overpass before the final
Pet Peeves / Annoying Things (no order)
Annoying flies in Jordan and Egypt
Being eaten alive by mosquitoes in Egypt
Vendors and Hawkers at Petra and at ancient sites in Egypt
Traveling to and from Al Bayt and Lusail stadiums
Spending too much time at airports
Loud children screaming everywhere
Long traffic lights in Doha
The inability to walk anywhere efficiently in Qatar, the excessive zig-zaggy lines and crowd control techniques
Lack of alcohol availability, reducing group energy and fervor, so what that no Brits were arrested, that means they weren’t pushing themselves far enough
Careem drivers failing at getting me from places I need to be
Class and racism issues in the Middle East
Top Meals / Restaurants (no order)
Jiwan at the National Museum of Qatar, has great service, view, and food.
Shawarma Wa Shawaya Restaurant in Doha had the best shawarma I could find. Great sauce.
The Moghul Room at Mena House in Cairo was some fantastic Indian food, that is in a beautiful setting, affordable due to the exchange rate. Order at least two dishes per person, as they’re a bit smaller.
Saqqara Palm Club in Egypt has great service and fantastic food despite it being tailored towards tourists visiting the sites nearby.
Al Wadi Restaurant in Wadi Musa (the town that is next to Petra) had the best food we had in Jordan. Great staff, good food options.
Tribes at the Dubai Mall has a fantastic view of the fountains and the Burj Khalifa, whilst also boasting fantastic African food.
Accurate Predictions
Emiliano Martinez needed to step up for Argentina to win
Kylian Mbappe would win the Golden Boot
Lionel Messi would win the Golden Ball
To be fair I made 4 minimum bets for tournament winner…
Top 3 Matches (that I attended)
I’ve also decided to pick up a jersey to commemorate each of these matches.
France v. Argentina
Getting an Mbappe kit, because… I mean, that second goal was just amazing.
Netherland v. Argentina
Getting a Weghorst kit, because getting a yellow card on the bench, coming on as a sub, and scoring twice, once in the last minute… that’s just ridiculous. However, I do not like the Dutch kit this year, so I shall be getting an older version with his name and number on it.
Japan v. Germany
I’m getting Mitoma. The obvious choice is one of the goal scorers, or Minamino (because he played for Liverpool), but Mitoma’s goal line assist for the winner against Spain is absolutely legendary.
Superlatives
Best New Kit
Has to go to the Mexican away kit. The French toile kit is a nice second place. Though competition was light. Nike failed miserably with the USA’s, Holland’s orange was weird, England’s was dopy. Puma went rogue.
Best Deal
Taxi’s and Careems. But any good deal is subject to the fact that (gas and) labor in the Middle East is so cheap. Migrant workers suffered to build the stadiums and infrastructure, but they are constantly taken advantage of as second class citizens in those countries as just a normal way of life there. Outrage needs to extend beyond the World Cup’s focus on migrant workers and extend to how parts of the world have marginalized servant classes, and the USA is not innocent there either.
Best Hotel
Mena House in Egypt is the best. You have to stay there for the pyramids. The view alone is worth it. Second place is the Kempinski Dead Sea in Jordan.
Worst Airline
Hard to pick a best, most were pretty good. Emirates and Qatar were both nice, but there’s an easy worst. Egypt Air was just chaos. Nothing about it’s schedule or consistency was reliable.
Best Fans
Japan wins. Unparalleled. But Saudi Arabians and Moroccans were a surprising addition. And of course generally impressed with the Mexicans and Argentines.
Best Souvenir
I really liked the two sided scarves with one side in English and the other side in Arabic. I thought that was a cool take on the classic football scarf. The other thing that I wish I had bought was a desert rose, a sort of crystal formed in the desert that looked like a good desk tchotchke. (I can’t find it online, so if anyone has access to it, I’m in the market for one). For Egypt, it has to be a conopic jar. That’s just good fun. A fake replica of course, don’t wanna risk Imhotep coming for me.
Special Thanks
(no last names in case they wanna stay “relatively anonymous”, since this is a public blog, though I have posted pictures of most of them… whatever, I tried)
Nicole
I really owe it all to her, she got me in the first round lottery which I took as a long shot. It worked out…
Chris
He started a great Facebook group of USA supporters who were headed to the World Cup. An invaluable resource of friendly people and vital information to plan the trip.
Todd
Great planner and traveler, he was a great surprise roommate and friend that helped make the trip so much easier and better. A master at the online ticket portal, hugely helpful that first week. An efficient person who always appreciated power walking and weaving to get through crowds.
XiaoHwa
Gave me a wonderful backpack for my 30th birthday that turned out to be the perfect main luggage for a trip like this. I spent so much time lugging this thing around, having a good comfy, light, and spacious bag like this was very important to prevent my back from having any more issues.
Zan
Without the financial security of my father, I wouldn’t have taken such risks to do it all.
Mattos
An incredibly flexible and understanding girlfriend. Crushed the Cairo and Doha (5th time) planning. Survived another trip with me. Both kept me out of trouble and broke some laws with me. I hope she enjoyed her first trip to the Middle East and her first World Cup match.