After sweeping the ball home to complete a World Cup hat-trick that will live long in the memory, Lionel Messi celebrated the latest historic chapter of his extraordinary career in front of a euphoric blue-and-white tidal wave in Kansas City.
Yet while the television shots captured thousands of Messi’s Argentine disciples swooning over their great leader behind the goal in the lower section of Arrowhead Stadium, the top of the venue provided a much more depressing sight.
Even the biggest superstar of the last two decades, a player regarded by many as the best in this sport’s rich history and heralded as a God-like figure back home, wasn’t enough to completely fill up the 70,000-capacity home of the Chiefs.
Empty seats could be spotted all around the upper tier of this famous NFL stadium as Messi, one week out from his 39th birthday, further cemented his legacy as soccer’s GOAT, with his heroics in Argentina’s opening 3-0 win over Algeria drawing him level with Germany icon Miroslav Klose for the most career World Cup goals with 16.
What a shame that so many were denied the privilege to witness his age-defying genius in the flesh.
FIFA announced the ‘official’ attendance as 69,045, which would suggest every seat in the house was taken after Arrowhead’s World Cup capacity was recently confirmed as that very same number. It certainly didn’t look that way on Tuesday night.
Lionel Messi registered his first ever hat-trick at a World Cup for Argentina on Tuesday night
But there were swathes of empty seats all around the upper tier of Arrowhead Stadium
The governing body’s outrageous ticket prices, and the swathes of empty seats it has resulted in at almost every World Cup stadium so far, has been one of the fiercest talking points at this tournament as working-class fans continue to be kept out of the world’s greatest soccer festival.
The cheapest tickets for Tuesday’s game were selling between around $600-800 on certain resale sites, albeit in the nosebleed section of the stadium. If you wanted to be closer to the action, it would have taken nearly double that in most cases.
Even games that aren’t featuring any of the leading contenders to go on and win the competition are insanely priced. Tickets for Norway vs Senegal at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Monday can be purchased for no less than $878 on SeatGeek. Ecuador vs Curucao in Kansas City has a cheapest ticket of almost $400 on TickPick.
Instead of making this World Cup more affordable and accessible for the everyday fan, FIFA President Gianni Infantino has prioritized VIP customers who wouldn’t bat an eyelid at spending more than $1k on a ticket. And the end result is hundreds, if not thousands, of empty seats. Seats that should be filled by fans who would one day tell their kids, their grandkids and their great grandkids about the night they witnessed history.
That’s what should have been the case on Tuesday night as Messi overwhelmed Algeria to add yet another momentous feat to his unrivaled collection.
When the greatest player of all time is working his magic on the biggest stage imaginable there shouldn’t be an empty seat in the house. Especially on these shores, where the United States has been trying to grow the sport over the past two decades.
The answer to solve this bleak problem is glaringly obvious: FIFA must do the right thing and lower prices to make special nights like these more affordable for working-class supporters.
Messi produced a breathtaking display to become the joint-highest World Cup scorer ever
What a shame that the great Argentinian had to do so in front of empty seats in Kansas City
Gianni Infantino and FIFA have priced working-class fans out of tickets this summer
Otherwise, as matches rise in both importance and cost over the next month, there will likely be far more damning visuals for Infantino – who boasted earlier this year that FIFA had received unprecedented demand for tickets – to wrap his head around.
It’s clear that World Cup fever has taken over the US. Every host city has been swarmed by fans in national-team jerseys at fan zones and bars across the country, even if they’re not lucky enough to be going to a game. A lack of excitement or buzz for this tournament is not issue.
Too many of the average Joes just can’t afford to be there.
And if the brilliance of Messi can’t fill up FIFA’s stadiums, who can?
