As the 2026 FIFA World Cup reaches full swing across North America, new data from SALT has found that England fans are significantly outpacing every other nation when it comes to demonstrated intent to travel.

By combining Ahrefs search data across 12 keyword variants in 8 languages, and normalising against national populations, SALT has built a loyalty index revealing which fan bases are truly committed to the journey, and which are quieter.

The loyalty index works by combining all ticket-purchase-intent search volume originating from a given country, then dividing by that country’s population in millions.

Host nations (USA, Canada, and Mexico) were excluded from the ranking, as their search volumes reflect domestic spectators rather than fans committed to international travel.

Data highlights

  • 148/m searches per million – England (highest globally)
  • 6,500+ combined searches – Brazil (most of any non-host nation)
  • 108/m – the biggest per-capita surprise in the data – Ecuador

The World Cup 2026 fan loyalty index

# Country Loyalty index (/M) Combined searches Population (M)
1 England 148 9,900 67
2 Ecuador 108 1,940 18
3 Ireland 104 530 5.1
4 Israel 98 950 9.7
5 Argentina 80 3,700 46
6 Norway 80 440 5.5
7 Australia 56 1,450 26
8 Netherlands 51 910 18
9 Sweden 37 390 10.5
10 Germany 33 2,710 83
11 Brazil 30 6,510 215
12 Spain 29 1,350 47
13 Belgium 19 220 11.5
14 Portugal 14 140 10.3
15 South Africa 11 680 60
16 Morocco 11 400 37
17 France 11 750 68
18 Japan 6 700 125
19 Italy 4 210 60
20 South Korea 1 70 52

England, the most searches per million

England tops the loyalty index with 148 searches per million people — a figure that dwarfs every other European competitor. Germany, which generates the fourth-highest absolute search volume in the study, records just 33 per million once its 83 million population is accounted for.

France — despite producing world-class football and a squad of generational talent — generates a mere 11 searches per million.

The finding aligns with well-documented historical evidence. England consistently sends an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 fans to major international tournaments, a volume few nations can rival relative to their population. The data suggests this World Cup is no different.

Ecuador, a surprise in the data

The most striking result in the dataset is Ecuador, which ranks second globally with 108 searches per million people.

For a nation of 18 million, this level of search activity is remarkable.

Ecuador’s relative geographic proximity to the United States — combined with a passionate football culture and likely qualification for the tournament — appears to be driving an outsized intent to attend in person. Expect a significant Ecuadorian presence in the stands.

Brazil, diluted fan volume

Brazil leads all non-host nations in raw search volume, generating more than 6,500 combined searches across Portuguese and English keywords.

But a population of 215 million dilutes that to a per-capita score of just 30 per million — placing Brazil 11th in the loyalty ranking.

The sheer absolute demand still means Brazilian fans will be conspicuously present, their yellow shirts essentially guaranteed. But proportionally fewer Brazilians appear to feel urgency around ticket searches compared to their English or Ecuadorian counterparts.

Argentina, strong per capita showing

Argentina sits at 80 searches per million — the highest of any South American nation on a per-capita basis — and its 3,700 combined searches represent the largest absolute volume of any Spanish-speaking non-host country. As reigning World Cup champions, Argentine fans appear genuinely motivated to travel internationally and defend their title in person. The wave of passion that followed the 2022 triumph in Qatar shows no sign of breaking.

Norway and The Netherlands

The Netherlands (51 per million) and Norway (80 per million) both significantly outperform much larger footballing nations.

The Oranje Army is one of football’s great travelling fan cultures, a tradition borne out clearly by the data.

Norway’s strong showing — from a population of just 5.5 million — reflects a combination of Erling Haaland’s global star power and what appears to be genuine qualification-driven excitement from a nation accustomed to watching tournaments from home.

France, ambivalence to travel?

France (11 per million) and Italy (4 per million) represent the tournament’s conspicuous absences in the search data.

France’s low figure is surprising. With a reported generational squad and one of the tournament favourites, their fans’ apparent disengagement may reflect confidence born from expectation, or a broader cultural ambivalence toward travelling away support.

Asian markets

South Korea (1 per million) and Japan (6 per million) appear low in the ranking, but this almost certainly reflects a methodology limitation rather than a lack of fan passion.

Both nations have large diaspora communities in the United States, meaning many Korean-American and Japanese-American fans are likely searching for tickets from US IP addresses — inflating the domestic US data rather than their home country totals.

The true in-stadium presence of both fan bases is expected to be considerably higher than these figures suggest.

Methodology and the fan loyalty index

This study analysed search volume data from Ahrefs across 12 ticket-purchase-intent keyword variants — including ‘world cup 2026 tickets’, ‘entradas mundial 2026’, ‘ingressos copa do mundo 2026’, ‘WM 2026 Tickets’, ‘billets coupe du monde 2026’, ‘WK 2026 tickets’, and Japanese-language equivalents — covering 8 languages.

Volumes were attributed by country of search origin using Ahrefs volume-by-country data. Host nations (USA, Canada, Mexico) were excluded from the ranking as their search volumes reflect domestic spectators rather than international travel intent.

The fan loyalty index was calculated by dividing combined ticket-intent searches by national population in millions. Data captured June 2026.