40 year-old Qormi resident being questioned about hold up in his hometown on Wednesday Police have arrested a man in connection with a hold-up on a lotto booth that took place in Qormi earlier this week. In an update issued this afternoon, police said that cooperation between the Major Crimes Squad and officers from the Qormi police station had resulted in the arrest of a 40 year-old man from Qormi last night. He is being questioned about Wednesday’s lotto booth robbery, in which a 31 year-old woman was held up at knifepoint and robbed of an undisclosed amount of cash.
Football’s coming home – to my second home, that is. I was born in England one month after Italia ‘90, the 1990 FIFA World Cup held in Italy. The England national team reached the semifinal, marking its best showing since it won the trophy in 1966 on home soil. I was raised on stories of past victories. My uncle was in attendance at Goodison Park in 1966, managing to squeeze six games into 10 days. He’ll tell you all about watching Pelé and Eusébio tear up the field, if you have an afternoon to spare. A ticket from the 1966 FIFA World Cup finals. Photo: Steve Travelguide/Shutterstock I’m also an American citizen, having moved to the US nearly a decade ago. That’s what makes the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Canada, Mexico, and the US even more special for me. It’s a unique chance to sing “football’s coming home” in my adopted home, and an opportunity to follow the family tradition of stocking up on stories I can tell half a century from now. For these reasons, and many more, I don’t just want to get tickets — I need to get tickets. Even with the possibility of dynamic pricing, I’ve learned some tricks and tips anyone else desperate to get tickets should follow. Here’s what to do to avoid unparalleled levels of FOMO next summer.
Paper tickets from the FIFA World Cup 2018. Photo: Valery Bocman/Shutterstock Forget the Powerball or the Euromillions. There’s only one lottery that fans of the beautiful game need to worry about: the World Cup 2026 Visa Presale Draw on September 10, 2025. Fans need to sign up for a free FIFA ID (and own a Visa credit card) to enter. The first “blind” lottery phase is open from September 10–19, giving fans the chance to register interest, with one million people selected to purchase tickets in early October. FIFA expects around 6.5 million fans to be in attendance across the tournament, which means these early-bird tickets account for about 15 percent of the total available. Entering this lottery gives fans early access, a chance at better seats, and less panic when next summer rolls around. But you won’t know at this stage which teams you’re buying tickets for. Photo: Ahyan Stock Studios/Shutterstock The next confirmed date of note for anyone wondering how to get FIFA World Cup 2026 tickets is December 5, 2025, for a draw held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. On this date, the 48 qualified teams will find out their group stage opponents. After this, FIFA will open general (non-lottery) sales in waves. These will be first-come, first-served, but only for the remaining inventory after lottery winners have claimed their seats. If this World Cup follows the lead of the last one in Qatar, fans will have a chance to get their hands on more tickets after the December event, likely open to anyone with a FIFA ID. There will likely be additional waves closer to the tournament. For general post-lottery sales, no specific dates or prices have yet been announced. This is when dynamic pricing comes into play, which means ticket prices fluctuate in real-time based on popularity. FIFA trialled dynamic pricing at the Club World Cup, with FIFA President Gianni Infantino calling it one of the best things he’s learned in the United States. Dynamic pricing led to last-minute tickets for the semifinal dropping as low as $13.40. But the World Cup will be way more popular than the Club World Cup. Ultimately, dynamic pricing could lead to a much higher price for tickets, especially in popular host cities and knockout phase tickets, favoring wealthy fans over everybody else. If you’ve got a big network of people who understand your passion for soccer, it might be tempting to get them all to sign up for the lottery phases. But, it’s essential to know that “Main Applicant tickets” are non‑transferable. While the three additional guest tickets applicants can buy are transferrable and can be sent to a guest via the FIFA Club World Cup 2026 app, those seats are assigned next to each other. So make sure anyone you get to buy tickets is both available, and a person you can stand to be seated next to for an entire match.
Just like the 48 teams that will have qualified for the 2026 World Cup, it takes both skill and luck to come out on top. So the only surefire way to snag tickets to avoid the heartache of lotteries and dynamic pricing is by buying hospitality tickets. I spoke with Alicia Falken, General Manager for FIFA World Cup 2026 at On Location, the tournament’s official hospitality company, about its higher-end World Cup offerings. “This is the only place where you can guarantee access to the World Cup now, the official hospitality provider,” she shared. It’s expensive, but for soccer fans, it may be worth it. According to Falken, entry-level packages start at just over $1,400 per ticket. That includes seats, as well as access to the stadium’s FIFA hospitality pavilion before, during, and after the match. This price doesn’t just get you seats for a game, but access to a dedicated community in the pavilion. It’s all about building the local vibe, which is especially exciting for newcomers to cities they’ve never visited before, or may not have visited, were it not hosting a match. Falken says hospitality ticket holders have access to quite a few additional perks in the FIFA Pavilions. That includes “food and drink before and after the match, regional street food with locally grown ingredients, local vendors, and local floral species, which has a sustainability aspect, too.” Of course, that’s for the basic packages. On Location has provided similar offerings for some of the world’s biggest events, including the Super Bowl, Wimbledon, the Olympics, and Coachella, and the top packages go way beyond just access to local bites. Buying hospitality tickets is the only way to get guaranteed seats as of now, before the World Cup ticket lotteries open. Photo: ralexa19/Shutterstock “You can get a private suite, which creates that exclusive, continuous service,” she says, “or the highest-end lounge product, with craft cocktails [and] curated culinary experiences.” The most luxurious package is the Platinum Access Package, with everything from memorable keepsakes to five-star accommodations and dinners with sports legends. Hospitality package tickets are already on sale, and according to Falken, have seen more interest than any other event in the company’s history. “There’s going to be tremendous demand for this event,” she says, noting that it already surpassed the demand throughout the entirety of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. With the World Cup draw still months away, people buying a hospitality package now are going in blind, not knowing what teams they’ll be seeing. But Falkenƒ doesn’t see this as a missed opportunity. She sees it as a unique one. “I like to have life experiences, see new places, and experience new things, and maybe see something that I haven’t seen before, whether it be a place or teams,” she says. “It makes it a bit of an adventure.”
Photo: Motortion Films/Shutterstock There is another way of getting tickets to the FIFA World Cup 2026 that isn’t available on any sites: scalping. If you’re planning on showing up on match day to buy tickets outside the stadium, be warned that FIFA has banned unauthorized resale of tickets, and tickets are technically non-transferable. While you may be lucky and find somebody who has an extra guest ticket and needs a friend for the day, security at the World Cup is going to be very stringent, scams will be in full force, and you could end up with an empty wallet and a ban from future FIFA events if it doesn’t go your way. Soccer in the US has come a long way since the last time the country hosted the World Cup back in 1994, when I was just four years old. World Cup USA ’94 still holds the record for the largest attendance of any FIFA World Cup, when 3,587,538 spectators attended 52 matches. But the 2026 World Cup is expected to smash these numbers. That’s partially because there will be twice as many games, and twice as many chances for fans like myself to get our hands on tickets. Whether I land a lottery ticket, or end up taking out a loan for a hospitality experience, I’m already counting down the days until the tournament kicks off on June 11, 2026. Join our newsletter for exclusive features, tips, giveaways! Follow us on social media.
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Nov 5, 2025 CORALVILLE — It was the ride of a lifetime. It just didn’t reach the destination the Comets wanted it to. The BCLUW volleyball team traveled an improbable comeback path to force a deciding fifth set against Dunkerton before falling to their conference rivals in Tuesday’s Class 1A quarterfinals at the Iowa High School State Volleyball Championships inside Xtream Arena. The fourth-seeded Raiders rallied up a fifth-set victory to defeat the fifth-seeded Comets, 25-20, 25-17, 17-25, 20-25, 15-8. It was BCLUW’s third-straight trip to state, but their first without a win. For the first two sets, it seemed the Comets wouldn’t even get a game from the Raiders (30-11). Backed into a corner, BCLUW (36-9) refused to go away. The Comets put all phases of the sport together and nearly marched all the way back to the state semifinals for the third year in a row. “I just felt like we had a little bit more confidence,” said BCLUW head coach Megan Yantis. “We weren’t on our heels. We were back against the wall and like ‘hey, we’ve got to come out and do this.’ And we just flipped that switch and then it was a completely different volleyball team. “I really thought we had it. I thought we’d come back that fifth game and find a way to win.” The Comets’ turned the tide so hard that the Raiders were suddenly stuck with nowhere else to go but up, and they did exactly that. Dunkerton junior Kylee Pexa put down seven of her match-high 21 kills during the deciding fifth set, sparking the Raiders into the next round. “I think when you have a group that has been in that situation a million times, nothing phases them,” said Dunkerton head coach Brittany Weidman. “Sometimes you need a hard reset. BCLUW did a fantastic job backs against the wall and really pushing through there. We knew they were going to do it, we knew it was going to be a battle.” The Comets led 5-4 before senior Daisy Fettkether served up a seven-point surge that put the Raiders in control for good. BCLUW used both its timeouts during the Raiders’ run, but nothing worked. “Sometimes it doesn’t happen your way,” Yantis said. “I think we had the energy, we had the fight, and then we lost it.” It marked Dunkerton’s third-straight win against the Comets in four head-to-head matches this season. The Raiders advance to face top-seeded St. Ansgar (29-4) in tonight’s 6 p.m. semifinals. No. 2 Janesville (32-11) and No. 3 North Tama (29-13) — Iowa Star Conference teams like BCLUW and Dunkerton — meet in the 6:25 p.m. semifinal. “I’m glad we made it to state for my seniors and all my teammates too,” said BCLUW senior outside hitter Grace Farnsworth. “I know next year they’ll do great things just because every single person on that team can uplift each other, no matter what the situation, and they’re gonna do great.” Farnsworth led the Comet comeback and posted a team-leading 19 kills on the night. She refused to tip the ball and kept swinging when her team needed her most. Farnsworth is one of five seniors who played their final match for BCLUW. “I’m just so proud of them,” Yantis said. “They’ve given us a great season. We had a lot of people that I think doubted us this season, whether or not we were going to be successful and whether we were going to make it to state or not. “I just feel like these seniors willed us here and were great leaders and I’m going to miss the heck out of them.” Junior outside Olivia Peters put down 15 kills for the Comets, Kylie Pekarek added nine kills and both Kennedy Davis and Cambria Wayman finished with five kills. Leah McEwen chipped in with two kills as the Comets battled back from what seemed destined to be a three-set sweep. BCLUW’s passing was off the mark throughout the first two sets, but it came back around in time to spark a comeback. Junior libero Brinna Benson was 46-for-51 in serve-receive and also made 10 digs, while Wayman made a team-high 15 digs for the defense. Pekarek posted four blocks. Wayman ended the night with 27 assists and Sally Ramirez added 17 more to go with six digs. The Comets couldn’t overcome 14 service errors and a Dunkerton attack that was varied enough to have the BCLUW block chasing the Raiders around the net at the start of the night. “I thought we were flat, just not who we normally come out to be,” Yantis said. “I don’t know if we came into it expecting to just win, but I don’t feel like we’ve done that all season. It could have been nerves — we do have some girls that haven’t been out there before.” It reflected early as the Raiders used four runs of three or more points in a row to get the upper hand on BCLUW. The Comets only had one such run in the second set and fell behind 2-0 before they’d even played their best volleyball. A six-point surge midway through the third set looked like the BCLUW team that got to state, powered by Benson’s serving — she had an ace — and consecutive kills from Wayman. Peters also put down two kills to help the Comets change their fate for the time being. The two teams were tied at 19-all in the fourth set before BCLUW scored six of the final nine points to push the match into the deciding fifth set. “I feel like the fifth set was very challenging for us, especially since we used all that energy to build up the previous two sets,” said Farnsworth. “But I feel like we did a great job no matter the outcome. I’m so proud of my team.” Iowa Girls High School State Volleyball Championships At Xtream Arena, Coralville CLASS 1A Quarterfinals Tuesday, Nov. 4 St. Ansgar def. East Mills, 25-11, 25-16, 25-18 Dunkerton def. BCLUW, 25-17, 25-20, 20-25, 17-25, 15-8 Janesville def. Gladbrook-Reinbeck, 25-23, 23-25, 25-19, 25-18 North Tama def. Sidney, 25-19, 25-21, 25-23 Semifinals Wednesday, Nov. 5 No. 1 St. Ansgar (29-4) vs. No. 4 Dunkerton (30-11), 6 p.m. No. 2 Janesville (32-11) vs. No. 3 North Tama (29-13), 6:25 p.m. Championship Thursday, Nov. 6 Semifinal winners, 7 p.m. AMES — Audi Crooks scored 20 points, Addy Brown had 11 points, six rebounds and six assists, and the No. 14 Iowa … SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Jalen Quinn scored 20 points to help Drake defeat Northern Arizona 77-71 on Monday. Quinn … IOWA CITY — The Oregon-Iowa football game scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 8, in Iowa City is officially sold out, …
