England fan quits chef job to extend World Cup stay in Texas after Croatia opener

Ben King, 27, from Portsmouth has quit his chef job to prolong his stay in the United States for England’s World Cup campaign, saying of the decision: “It’s got to be done.”

King had originally arranged a new job three months in advance to allow him to travel to Texas for England’s opening group fixture against Croatia before flying home. But with England still in the tournament, he extended his trip by leaving that position, pushing back his return flight by at least several days.

“I was meant to fly home yesterday, but I left my job, got a new job three months ago and now I’m going home after the England game,” King said. “I’ve looked at weighing up staying a little bit longer but I just can’t with work, otherwise I would.”

Speaking from Billy Bob’s in Dallas Fort Worth alongside friends Joe Parrott, 28, and his brother Sam Parrott, 25, King’s group talked up England’s chances of going deep in the competition. Joe Parrott, who predicts England to win the tournament, joked that the temptation to stay indefinitely was real. “The problem is, we might just not go home. You could stay here a lifetime,” he said.

The group did, however, raise sharp criticism of ticket pricing at the tournament. The friends chose not to attend Argentina’s match against Austria at the AT&T Stadium because of the cost, with Joe Parrott describing the prices as “a disgrace”.

“The flights are what they are — I think we paid about £900 which is expensive but it’s not overpriced — but tickets, outrageous,” he said. Sam Parrott agreed that general living costs in the US had been manageable, singling out match tickets as the standout grievance.

Joe Parrott also pointed to the resale market as a compounding problem. “The resale value of tickets doesn’t make it easy for anyone to go to games,” he said. “If you look at the Qatar World Cup and previous World Cups, they were nowhere near as expensive.”