A recent study has revealed that Bafana Bafana supporters face the most challenging journey to the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, compared to fans from other competing nations for which data is available.
Any Bafana Bafana fan who has attempted to secure flights, match tickets, and a visa will likely resonate with the GIGAcalculator’s ranking of nations regarding the true cost of attending the group stage. This ranking takes into account flight and travel expenses, average travel duration, and the complexities of obtaining a visa.
Haiti and Iran were excluded from the analysis due to existing travel restrictions.
South Africa tops the list of 38 countries for which data was gathered, boasting a difficulty score of 9.53 out of 10, placing it ahead of Uzbekistan (9.18) and Ivory Coast (8.86).
The findings indicate that the average return flight from Johannesburg to attend a group match costs R27,053, with an average travel time of 19.3 hours—no other fans face such lengthy journeys. The visa application process received a top difficulty score of 20, and match tickets for all games are priced at an average of R8,759, which some might consider rather optimistic.
According to this research, no other fans face greater hurdles in making it to the World Cup than those supporting Bafana Bafana.
South Africa is set to face co-hosts Mexico in the tournament opener in Mexico City on June 11, followed by a match against the Czech Republic in Atlanta on June 18. They will then return to Mexico to take on South Korea in Monterrey on June 24.
The remaining teams rounding out the top 10 include Tunisia (8.67), Egypt (8.54), Argentina (8.50), Qatar (8.45), Ghana (8.15), Jordan (8.05), and Paraguay (8.05).
It’s worth noting that the data does not account for the Democratic Republic of Congo or any other nations that qualified during March’s FIFA window. However, Morocco stands out as the highest-ranked African nation in terms of travel ease, with a difficulty score of 6.03.
According to the study, fans from France (2.99), Norway (3.43), England (3.81), Colombia (4.00), and Germany (4.85) will experience the least challenging journeys to the tournament.
Compiled by SportArena.au
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