Kimmich and Germany players fund travel for 600 fans as World Cup fares soar

Germany captain Joshua Kimmich and his teammates are personally funding free bus transport for 600 fans attending the national team’s final Group E World Cup match against Ecuador at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on 25 June, the German Football Association has confirmed.

The initiative comes in direct response to a sharp rise in transit fares between New York and the stadium. A standard round-trip train ticket that normally costs $12.90 has been set at $98 during World Cup fixtures — reduced from an initially proposed $150 after NJ Transit faced significant public backlash. Shuttle buses, which were originally priced at $80, have been brought down to $20, but still represent a steep premium on top of already expensive match tickets.

The German Football Association confirmed the arrangement, stating: “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. Captain Joshua Kimmich and his teammates are covering the cost of buses to take supporters from New York to the arena in New Jersey for the match against Ecuador.”

The elevated fares stand in stark contrast to the free fan transport provided at the previous two World Cups in Russia and Qatar, and have drawn widespread frustration from supporters already navigating the high cost of attending matches in the United States.

Germany open their 2026 World Cup campaign against Curacao on Saturday before facing Ivory Coast the following week, with the Ecuador match rounding out their group stage schedule. The four-time world champions — whose last title came in Brazil in 2014 — have been eliminated at the group stage in each of the past two tournaments and will be eager to avoid a third consecutive early exit.