The second game of the 2026 World Cup was notable for what appeared to be thousands of empty seats at the Akron Stadium in Guadalajara, where South Korea came from behind to beat Czech Republic.
Complaints about ticket prices, travel costs and visa issues have been a big theme of the build-up to a tournament that is being held in Mexico, Canada and the United States.
And in Guadalajara there were huge patches of empty seats, particularly around hospitality areas. FIFA said the official attendance was not far short of capacity and pointed to “several” people being in concourses.
There were also a lot of empty seats visible at Levi’s Stadium for Qatar’s 1-1 draw with Switzerland with the gaps increasing as the match went on and some supporters seeking shelter from the heat of the open stadium.
So how full have the stadiums been at the World Cup? And why do the figures not match what people are seeing? According to FIFA’s figures attendance has been 1,574 short of capacity across the opening six games.
Here The Athletic explains what happened at the games that had the biggest examples of empty seats and what FIFA has said are the official attendances across the tournament so far.
South Korea 2 Czech Republic 1
June 11, Akron Stadium, Guadalajara. Kick-off 8pm local time.
Official attendance: 44,985 Capacity: 45,664 Official gap: 679
The second match of the World Cup, South Korea’s 2-1 win over Czech Republic in Guadalajara, was the first true test of FIFA’s ticketing strategy after Mexico’s raucous opener. With the game taking place between two relatively unfancied teams, and in the poorest host city at the tournament, average ticket prices of $500 were heavily criticised pre-tournament by locals as unaffordable.
Mexican fans still made up at least two-thirds of the stadium’s attendance, with the remainder of supporters largely backing South Korea, but large stretches of empty seats were visible throughout the game, particularly in the Estadio Akron’s most expensive sections, the lower-tier sidelines. These included VIP sections, which cost over $5,000 if purchased by supporters, rather than given away by corporate sponsors.
Empty seats during South Korea against Czech Republic (Getty Images)
FIFA’s official attendance figures suggested that the stadium was only 700 supporters short of its 45,664 capacity — figures which did not appear to line up with the thousands of empty seats which were visible throughout the game.
When The Athletic asked FIFA for an explanation of this apparent disrepancy, the governing body said: “Official attendance figures reflect the number of tickets scanned and spectators present within the stadium footprint, rather than visual assessments of seating occupancy at any given moment during the match. FIFA works closely with stadium authorities and ticketing teams to ensure all published figures are based on verified operational data.
“Please note that, during last night’s match in Guadalajara, several ticketed fans could be seen standing in concourses rather than staying in their assigned seats throughout the match.”
Qatar 1 Switzerland 1
June 13, Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara. Kick-off 12pm local time.
Official attendance: 67,966 Capacity: 68,827 Official gap: 861
The prospect of watching the world’s 19th and 56th-ranked sides battle out their opening game was not necessarily the most mouthwatering contest of the World Cup group stage.
But there was certainly a buzz around the stadium concourses ahead of kick-off and both teams had a strong contingent of travelling fans behind the goals.
The red block of Swiss supporters contrasted with the Qataris in their traditional white dress. Some Swiss fans had flown in from Zurich, while other attendees we spoke to, born in Yemen but living in the Bay Area, were rooting for Qatar. San Francisco locals and fans of the Premier League turned out just to watch the football, while another American family had travelled 13 hours from Utah for their son’s birthday in the hope of seeing some goals.
Even though the attendance was announced as 67,966, 861 shy of the stadium’s official capacity (the sixth largest of the 16 World Cup venues), the ground appeared only around three-quarters full. Empty seats could be seen sprinkled throughout each of the four tiers. The fans in the upper stands, so steep that just looking down may make you feel sick, did well to endure the punishing California sunshine.
A large number of supporters also appeared to take their time to return after the break or even stayed sheltered inside the concourse away from the heat.
Qatar v Switzerland appeared fairly well attended before kick-off but thinned out further in the second half, below (Credit: Getty Images)
San Francisco news site SFGate reported that in walking a lap of the concourse following the first hydration break it found lots of supporters stood at the back of the stands or in the queues for food, drink and merchandise.
FIFA declined to comment.
