This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with 33-year-old Andrei Seben Fontana from Tapejara, Brazil. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I traveled with my dad, uncle, and cousin to Atlanta, Miami, and New York City for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The super-expensive ticket prices meant we were only able to afford the cheapest game we could find in Atlanta. We saw the Democratic Republic of the Congo vs Uzbekistan at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium — the best stadium I have ever been to.
The tickets were not cheap by any means: we paid around $390 each for a group stage game. But this was the cheaper option compared to going to a Brazil game where tickets were almost at $2,000.
For the rest of the trip we spent around 2 hours a day shopping. Since it is currently winter in Brazil, and the United States is really hot, we decided to travel with empty luggage and buy clothes in the US. The bags came back completely full.
My favorite stores were Uniqlo, which we don’t have back home, and Macy’s, where I was able to buy a variety of brands. I bought t-shirts, pants, North Face sweatshirts, Columbia jackets, and at JD Sports I bought some New Balance sneakers for $140. In Brazil it could have cost me double the price.
For my girlfriend back home, I brought back gifts like mugs and socks. She collects small Coca-Cola bottles, so I got her souvenirs from the World of Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta. I also bought her the iPhone 17 Pro, and both her and my mom an Apple Watch, while getting a MacBook and a cheaper and thinner iPhone Air for myself.
In economic terms this was my best purchase — though after being back home and seeing my girlfriend use her new iPhone 17 Pro, I wish I had bought the same one. I should have listened to the Apple employee who asked me three times if I was sure about it before buying it.
Yet, in sentimental terms the most special purchase was a $15 FIFA World Cup t-shirt I bought at Walmart, that says “We are 26, Atlanta.” It represents a good memory for me of being at the game with my family.
Every place I travel, I buy small and cheap things to remember the trip by. Back home, I have a collection of magnets, so I made sure to buy a magnet in every city I traveled to.
This is not the first time I have experienced a World Cup, but this one was more expensive
During the 2014 tournament in Brazil I was living in Porto Alegre, one of the host cities. It was great, we had thousands of Argentines, Australians, South Koreans, and Dutch people. The main difference between the American and Brazilian World Cups was ticket prices. With my student discount at the time, I was able to get tickets for $20 in 2014 — so in 12 years there has been a big change.
I was also able to get cheaper tickets for the Qatar World Cup in 2022. Yet, in Qatar, drinking beer was illegal, so that was a downside.
While it is cheaper to buy quality clothes and good brands in the US, I found that experiences were more expensive than back home. One friend I talked to before the trip told me New York City is one of the most expensive cities in the country. After being there, I agree.
Last time I was in the US in 2013, I remember the $1-dollar-menu at McDonald’s. Now a burger is $7 and a coffee is $6. When you convert these dollar prices to Brazilian reais, for us that is expensive. And of course, the US does not have cheap Brazilian food, like barbecue.
Tours and sightseeing experiences, like going to the Statue of Liberty and The Edge, were also costly.
What I did not find as expensive, in comparison to back home, was renting a car and paying for gas. It gave us the option to sightsee and was much less expensive than going by plane. This especially helped since I was not able to plan the trip beforehand as much because I was waiting to buy cheap tickets.
I remember it being 1 a.m. and everyone was sleeping and I was buying tickets, booking cars and hotels two days before the game we went to in Atlanta. We ended up driving 15-hours from Key West, Florida to Atlanta. Although the last-minute booking cost me more money, the road trip is my favorite memory from the visit.
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