$15,000 visa deposit prices Algerian fans out of 2026 World Cup

Nasreddine Bounedjar earns $300 a month teaching history and geography in Algiers. He had been saving most of his income over the past year in hopes of attending the World Cup later this summer.

He then learned that to get a US visa, he would need to deposit $15,000. The sum is equivalent to more than four years of work without spending a single dinar.

"And that's just the deposit," Bounedjar told The New Arab. "You still need the flight, the hotel, the tickets. Even if they give the money back, I don't have it to put down in the first place."

Bounedjar is one of millions of fans across five countries, Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal, the Ivory Coast, and Ghana, who qualified for this summer's World Cup but now face a financial barrier that makes attendance virtually impossible.

Under a US "Visa Deposit Pilot Programme" applied to 50 countries, citizens from the listed nations must post between $5,000 and $15,000 at their consular interview as a guarantee against overstaying.

A family of four hoping to attend the World Cup would have to make four separate deposits, even if one of the family members is a child.

US visa policy details

Bounjar, the teacher, will be back at the cafe screen when the tournament starts.

"When we were kids, football was for everyone," he said to TNA. "Today, you have to pay to experience it. But the passion doesn't change."

Not far from where he sits, a group of young men in a Casbah alleyway was having the same conversation. One, in a Mouloudia Club Algiers shirt, said the consular officer decides the exact amount, but it hardly matters, remarking, "Only the ones who can pay will go. The rest of us won't."

Another said that if he somehow made it, he would not come back."

US authorities say the programme aims to reduce visa overstays, noting that deporting a single person can cost around $18,000 and that the scheme has raised the departure compliance rate to roughly 97 per cent.

Applicants for B1/B2 visas from the listed countries are asked during their consular interview to deposit between $5,000 and $15,000, based on an assessment of "immigration risk." The deposit is returned only if the applicant leaves the country on time.

According to World Bank data, the average income in several of the affected countries falls well below the cost of travelling to the United States, let alone posting a five-figure guarantee.

US immigration data show 375,928 overstays in 2024, out of nearly 31 million expected departures, with the majority among B1/B2 visa holders. But no recently published data confirms that the five affected countries rank highest in overstay rates.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has described the 2026 tournament as one of the "most inclusive World Cups ever". That claim is increasingly tested by reality, according to Bounjar.

The federation is currently negotiating with the Trump administration for exemptions covering players and technical staff, since the programme contains no provisions for athletes competing in major international tournaments. Even if players are exempted, ordinary supporters remain locked out.

"This World Cup is going to the elites"

In the eastern city of Annaba, Touati Mohammed Ali, president of Hamra Annaba football club and a university lecturer, told The New Arab that the decision reflects something deeper than visa policy.

"The fans who are going to go are a specific class. The ordinary supporter cannot afford it," he said. "I have a decent income, and even I would struggle."

While tennis has long been an elite sport, Ali argued that football was different. Now, he said, it is becoming the same. He acknowledged the United States' right to set its own immigration rules but criticised FIFA for failing to push back.

"With different leadership, there might have been pressure to change things," he said.

Moncef Herriou, president of Union Bouhamra football club, said the decision strikes at the heart of what a World Cup is meant to be.

"The whole point is to bring people together. This time it will be incomplete," Herriou argued. "The diaspora fans will show up. But the real supporters, the ones who follow the team everywhere, they will be absent."

He warned that the absence could affect performance on the pitch.

"When the players look up and don't see their people, it matters," he said.

Herriou questioned the fairness of applying the rule selectively.

"This is a sovereign decision, fine. But the same opportunities should exist for everyone," he said. "Why does it apply to some and not others? Football has become an elite game. It used to belong to the poor."

Fairness and access

According to The Athletic, the $5,000 payments are reserved for children, while adults must pay either $10,000 or $15,000. The programme was initially launched as a pilot in late 2025, targeting several countries across Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and parts of Asia, and has since been expanded to 50 nations.

"360 million centimes just to get in? That's a business investment," said Hamid Boudjemline, the owner of a dimly lit gym in the working-class district of Hussein Dey. He shrugged. "I'll watch it at the cafe. Better."

FIFA's own pricing starts at $60 for federation-allocated group stage seats and reaches $7,875 for a Category 1 final ticket, making this the most expensive World Cup in tournament history. On the secondary market, average final tickets are already listed at close to $14,000.

Ammi Kheireddine was lacing up his boots for a kickaround on a neighbourhood pitch in Bab el-Oued.

"Football here doesn't need $15,000," he told TNA. "How do they impose these astronomical figures on us to enter their territory, while their companies roam freely in our desert?"

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