Argentina & Brazil: Football Matches

FockRoysh

Hi, not sure if this is the right place to post but here goes...

Heading over to South America in September and really want to get to at least one football match over there in either brazil or argentina. I know fixtures have yet to be set but I was on the Boca Juniors site and from what I can see its $150 for one ticket?! Seems a bit much... anyway, if anyone knows how to get tickets (reasonably priced if possible!) or has any experience of matches over there, I'd appreciate a lil help, cheers!

Bruz82

Went to a boca juniors match with a crowd from the hostel and was a bit expensive, after that we decided to go to a River plate game and we arrived at the stadium bout 2 hours before a game and picked up 4 tickets fairly easily for alot cheaper, In Rio I was with a local so that was easy enough but my advise would be head early ( or day before ) and ask around. The hostels will rip you off.

R.D. aka MR.D

Hey,
Yeh unfortunately the Boca tickets are mad expensive for big games. But what you can do is go to the stadium in La Boca the day of an unimportant match and try to get tickets outside I know a few people who have done this.

BUT la boca is a high crime area, knifes, guns you name it. Also the chances of you being sold a fake ticket are also high. And you have no recourse.

The system is set up as you would imagine to suit actual boca fans. You register with the club and they give you tickets for dirt cheap. Then a certain amount of tickets go to travel agents and the like. There is no way to get an official ticket if your not buying through the fan club.
Trying River Plate is a much better idea as it is in a very safe suburb which makes the whole process a lot easier. Go before the match try get tickets.

You can’t drink/bring drink into matches here and they don’t make exceptions for foreigners (it’s such a weird law, happens for festivals as well!)

Other than that just bring nothing but your bus fare and be careful and have fun!

No idea about Brazil!

doriansmith

I went to a match about 3 weeks ago in the Maracana Stadium in Rio (the next world cup final's gonna be held there). There's matches a couple of times a week so I wouldn't worry about having to get tickets ages beforehand. We just booked it the day before through our hostel. I'm sure we could've got tickets cheaper if we'd gone about it ourselves but we got picked up & brought home by doing it through the hostel - the stadium's a good bit away from the Ipanema/Copacabana area. Think we paid about €25 each including transport.

It was well worth it anyway, we were in amongst the fans & they were all going nuts when goals were scored. Brilliant atmosphere, they get so into it over here, I loved it!

v.e.r.b.a.l

Agreed. The Maracána is amazing! Saw the local derby, Flamenco v Botafogo which had an unbelievable atmosphere. The crowd are unbelievable. So crazy!

Cyril Squirrel

I went to a Boca Juniors River Plate match a few years ago. Got the tickets through the hostel where I was staying (Millhouse) and was bussed to and from the game with them. I can't remember the price but it was well organised and very convenient.

baztard

Your best bet is to go to not go to a flagship tourist match such as Bocas vs.River Plate. The vast majority of matches that exclude the massive profile ones are quite cheap. And if you look at the tables for the last season, you'll notice that both Bocas and River Plate are ****e, last I saw they were 2 of the bottom 3 teams in the league, after 20 or so matches!

When in Argentina you can buy your ticket in a tour through the hostel. You get a bus there, and some free food and you sit with all the other tourists. Or you can pay 1/5th of that price and just buy your ticket at the stadium on the day. Personally i'd recommend the 2nd choice (although I've never done the first).

You'll hear a lot of scare stories about Bocas being a dangerous area, and the crowd at games being dangerous etc etc. From my experience theres no smoke without fire, but the bad experiences only happen to an extremly small few. Common sense applies as usaual, bring nothing that you dont want to lose, including jerseys.

v.e.r.b.a.l

I went to the Maracana with the hostel I was staying in. Was right in the thick of it with all of the crazy local fans. Brilliant seats and surrounded by the loyal fans who were thrilled to see us there, helping us with chants, hugging us when Flamenco scored etc.

Another group of lads went on their own and had loadsa hassle trying to get tickets, then had really ****ty seats. I usually advise to do things independently, but in this case the hostel organising it worked out brilliantly.

Dunno how easy or safe it'd be to do it yourself in La Boca!!

johnp

Not sure if it'll be an issue, but be careful of your timing. I was in Brazil in March. It was a 2.5 week holiday, and we had loads to see so timing was almost military!
Anyway, we were getting into Rio on the Friday to go to the Maracana on the Saturday, flying home on the Sunday.
When we got into Rio, we found out they changed the day of the game to the Sunday for TV. There was no way we'd make it to the game and catch our flight home

I was well p!ssed off at the time, but at least it gives me an excuse to go back