Germany Players Fund Bus Travel for Fans Amid Soaring Costs

Germany’s players have stepped into a growing row over World Cup transport prices in the United States by paying for 600 supporters to travel by bus to their final Group E match against Ecuador.

With fans already furious at eye-watering fares around New York, the squad has moved to underwrite coach travel from the city to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey for the 25 June fixture.

What would normally be a routine, affordable journey has turned into a symbol of the tournament’s off-field tensions. Train tickets from central New York to MetLife, usually $12.90 (£9.50), were hiked to $150 once the World Cup began. After a backlash, the price dropped, but only to $98 – still more than seven times the standard fare.

Shuttle buses, initially set at $80 for a similar trip, have since been reduced to $20. The damage, though, was already done. Local anger grew, visiting fans complained, and attention turned to who was responsible.

The governor of New Jersey has publicly pointed the finger at Fifa, saying the governing body refused to subsidise transport costs, pushing prices onto supporters instead.

Against that backdrop, the German camp chose to act.

“In light of the high cost of bus and train travel in New York during the World Cup, the German national team players have organised free transport to the final group match for 600 fans,” the German FA announced.

“Captain Joshua Kimmich and his team-mates are covering the cost of buses to take supporters from New York to the arena in New Jersey for the match against Ecuador.”

For many followers of the national team, the gesture will feel like a throwback to previous tournaments. At the World Cups in Russia and Qatar, fans could use free public transport to reach stadiums and fan zones, a benefit that had been written into the United States’ original host agreement for 2018.

That promise did not survive. A revision to the agreement in 2023 changed the terms: supporters would no longer ride for free, but instead be charged at cost.

The result is a World Cup where the journey to the ground has become a financial calculation as much as a ritual. Germany’s players cannot fix the system, but for 600 of their fans, at least, the road to MetLife will now be about football again, not the price of the ticket.