FIFA has won. Football can sit somewhere else.

The empty seats at the 2026 World Cup are not a mystery. They are the visible result of a tournament priced, packaged and managed for maximum extraction rather than genuine supporter culture. FIFA may still make record money, and Gianni Infantino’s political machine may remain perfectly fed. But the gaps in the stands reveal something the attendance figures cannot hide: football’s richest event can still look strangely poorer without real fans.