After going broke on tickets, there’s only one way for these fans to save a buck: cheap eats.
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PHILADELPHIA — He’d already spent a grand on tickets, plus hundreds more on flights and lodging, so by the time Edwin Hernandez arrived from Ecuador for the World Cup, he was determined to minimize expenses.
“I try not to eat much,” said Hernandez, a 26-year-old software developer from Quito. “Keep this as cheap as possible.”
That usually meant McDonald’s or Subway. But hours before Sunday’s match, Hernandez allowed himself a small luxury, making his way to Pat’s King of Steaks, the world-famous cheesesteak shop, only to find a line of yellow Ecuador jerseys snaking through the patio.
Soccer fans from around the world have poured into the United States for the World Cup, delighting Americans with giddy social media reviews of American culture, an exotic offering of big-box stores, sprawling rest stops and state-of-the-art stadiums. The Brazilians perused Target; the newly minted German influencer Freddy road-tripped through the South; Moroccans celebrated their new favorite NBA team, the New York Knicks, winning a title.
And no matter where they went, they engaged in the most America-circa-2026 pastime there is: looking for cheap food.
For visitors who have plunked down thousands on travel, not to mention the most expensive tickets in World Cup history, food is one cost they can control. Bankers from Mexico City, who each paid $500 for a France-Senegal ticket, found salvation at Chick-fil-A and Joe’s Pizza. A father from Paris traveling with his two young kids, raved about the fried rice at a New York City Chinese food joint. From street tacos to bodega burgers, ramen bowls to Times Square pizza, they’ve tried it all, so long as it’s all cheap and, hopefully, cheesy.
At $19.99, a cheesesteak at Pat’s pushed the bounds of Hernandez’s daily budget. “I wasn’t expecting everything to be so expensive,” he said. “But I don’t know if I’ll ever be in Philadelphia again.”
He found a place at the back of the line, popped in his earbuds, and hoped his lunch would be worth the wait — and the price.
For Cédric Higel, there was hardly a choice: If his beloved Les Bleus were playing in the World Cup across the Atlantic, he was crossing an ocean to see them. He had been dreaming, planning and saving for this trip, he said, for three years.
He traveled from France to see his star-studded squad take on Senegal on Tuesday, a French victory that featured a screamer from Kylian Mbappé that ignited the crowd into an awed roar.
But it came at a cost: $1,300 a ticket.
“I wish I could have seen it for less,” he said. “Everything is so expensive.”
Which is why, after the game, he found his way not to some chef-driven hot spot but to an order-on-a-kiosk fast-casual staple available in most U.S. states: Shake Shack.
After trains from New Jersey delivered him and thousands of others back to Penn Station, in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, they didn’t have to go far before encountering a bountiful row of American fast-food joints along an underground plaza streaming with foot traffic. Beside Shake Shake, Raising Cane’s and Dos Toros, France jerseys were everywhere.
“Here you have as many fast-food brands as you have restaurants in France,” he said.
This was Higel’s second time at Shake Shack. His first time, he left unimpressed, preferring a cheeseburger he’d had earlier on the trip from a New York bodega. This time, he tried the version with bacon, which he deemed “not bad.”
Roberto Acros, from Ecuador, paid $500 each for tickets to two matches, so he, too, is aiming to keep expenses down, under $2,000 if he can. He took a bus instead of a train from New York City to Philadelphia, and public transportation over cabs. Food wise, he’s using a timeless New York-on-a-budget strategy: “The pizza is very nice,” he said. “Everything in all of New York is very expensive, but in Times Square, $1.50 for pizza is very nice for me.”
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Hernandez and others said that back home they’re high earners who can afford to occasionally splurge on fancy restaurants. But their money doesn’t go far here.
A ticket to see Les Blues against Senegal cost more than the average monthly rent in France. The price of the cheapest ticket to Ecuador’s game against Côte d’Ivoire was higher than the average monthly salary in Ecuador. A train from Manhattan to the stadium in New Jersey cost $98, a World Cup price hike for a route normally set at $12.90. Parking at the stadium lot in Philadelphia cost $150, three times the price at Eagles games.
For many visiting fans, spending that much at a sit-down restaurant is out of the question. So they’ve turned to more affordable American staples.
“Pizza and burgers and hot dogs,” said Sebastian Garces, a 33-year-old who owns a coffee farm in Ecuador, as he carefully maneuvered a giant pepperoni slice dripping with grease at a bus stop in Philadelphia. He loves it, he said.
Not everyone is impressed. “The food here is full of fat and oil, and it lacks quality,” said Anas Chakib, a 25-year-old Morocco fan from Luxembourg. “You have a lot of good restaurants … but a nice quality restaurant is expensive.”
Most, though, seemed comfortable facing their triglyceride levels and bank statements once they got home. For now, their priority was pleasure.
“Meat and cheese and grease and bread — they’re all good,” said Nuno Marriott, a 29-year-old Ecuador fan.
Invented in response to scarcity, a testament to resourcefulness, the cheesesteak draws legions of hungry and curious tourists, an attraction as essential as the Liberty Bell. The Ecuadorians were not immune to its allure.
Hernandez checked his watch. He needed time to return to his hostel to change into a fresh jersey, a good plan for a man in line for a cheesesteak, already drenched in sweat from the stifling humidity.
But the line moved, more than a dozen orders placed in half an hour, the mighty American fast-food machine humming along. Soon he was faced with the ultimate choice: Cheez Whiz or provolone?
Hernandez said he saved for months for this trip. He had attended all of the team’s qualifying games in Ecuador with his father, a cab driver who preferred to build his retirement savings than shell out for the compounding costs of a World Cup vacation. But Hernandez called it a “once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
“I don’t have any other responsibilities, no kids,” he said. “This is the right time to spend money on this.”
He bought tickets to group-stage games for around $630 each, plus a Round of 32 match in New Jersey, figuring that if Ecuador wasn’t in it, he could sell. He had already resold a $1,200 ticket to a Round of 16 match in July for $1,600. He hoped to stay within a $400 budget for all other expenses.
At Pat’s, he ordered what the man behind the counter recommended: the classic version with Cheez Whiz and onions, piled over sliced beef on a warm roll. Before he’d even ordered his soda, his sandwich was ready, handed to him on a paper wrapper.
“That was fast,” he said.
Taking a big first bite, Hernandez described the iconic American delicacy as “cheesy,” then added for clarification: “But I love the cheese.”
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