It's sort of frustrating that they discovered this huge disparity between the rates of visa applications being approved from different countries, and then seemingly made no effort at all to investigate the reasons for it.

« Overall, citizens of countries that require eTAs to enter Canada had an approval rate of 96 per pent, compared to just 32 per cent for those that need a visa. »

Seems like applications from countries with an established electronic information exchange program were easier to validate with enough time to accommodate the short World Cup window.

I know a guy who had their visa denied because he failed in the "has enough money" criteria, apparently they think being poor is a risk factor for this person overstaying (which makes sense) but the guy literally had a World Cup ticket in hand and plane tickets (which is why he had no money left)...

This year for the first time there are 10 African World Cup teams participating, and that makes me think of how passports are handled internationally in general. If our officials haven't done much about the way things are normally handled, it could cause a lot of fans to get locked out for no good reason.

I saw an explainer video recently about this topic, and was surprised how people with less valued passports are treated. Apparently it's not just where you're a citizen but where you're born that determines what barriers a traveller will face. Doesn't matter if you have no criminal record or other connections to crime. Those of us who were both born and have citizenship in countries on the good list are very lucky. (The vid, for those interested: Youtube | Invidious)