The Road to the World Cup Experience is a fully funded opportunity for 100 new undergraduate and postgraduate UCFB students starting in September 2024, along with 50 returning UCFB students, scheduled to take place in September 2025 in Miami. The experience includes free travel and accommodation, guest speakers from the sports industry, live sporting events, and stadium tours. The experience aims to immerse students in the build-up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
No, the Road to the World Cup Experience is not open to paying attendees. If you are not fortunate enough to secure a spot on the experience via the randomised draw, you are still able to attend a GIS Global Sports Summit, throughout the 2024-2025 & 2025-2026 academic year, Click here for further details of this event.
Yes, the GIS Miami Global Sports Summit is scheduled to take place in 2025.
This immersive sports experience will be based around tailored talks and workshops, featuring sports professionals from the pitch, from the boardroom and from behind the scenes of the sports industry and the opportunity to attend live sporting event. Unlike the Road to the World Cup Experience, the Global Summit Series is a multi-sport event, focusing on the localised sports industry.
Attending the Road to the World Cup Experience will allow you to grasp a true understanding of how Miami is preparing for the World Cup in 2026, and allow you to meet the key players in how this feat of sports operation is fulfilled.
You’ll hear first-hand from leading sports organisations, ensuring the host city of Miami is equipped for the biggest sporting tournament in the world.
In addition to this, you will have the opportunity to further develop professional skills and gain a cultural awareness of another part of the world. International educational experiences have been shown to boost student prospects across a variety of areas, particularly:
- Increased average earnings;
- Increased employment rate;
- Increased overall grades.
The Road to the World Cup Experience is scheduled to take place in September 2025. The exact dates will be announced in January 2025.
UCFB will cover the costs for flights, accommodation, access to live sport experiences, and internal coach journeys to activities.
Students will need to cover their own food and drink, general spending money, visa costs, and travel insurance.
No, should you be successful, the return flight is part of your funded place, and therefore, all attendees are expected to travel as part of the group.
No, should you be successful, the accommodation is part of your funded place, and therefore, all attendees are expected to stay together as a group.
We are busy working with sports organisations and individuals in the United States to confirm the best possible experiences and speakers for the Road to the World Cup Experience. We will release details of speakers and experiences as they become confirmed in due course. A full and detailed schedule will be sent to all those travelling before we depart for Miami.
Attendees will need money for food, drink, city activities, and general spending. Miami is a vibrant area with a huge variety of options, however spending budgets depend on the individual. It is the students’ responsibility to fund their own sustenance throughout the duration of the experience. hardship funds will not be made available by Student Services for this opportunity, as it is an extracurricular event.
The Road to the World Cup Experience attendees are responsible for ensuring they can travel to the United States, along with any associated VISA costs.
British nationals are able to apply for an Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) visa waiver to enter or transit the USA as a visitor; https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/
If you do not qualify for entry under the ESTA, you’ll need to apply for a visa from the nearest US Embassy or Consulate.
Further information on US immigration rules is available from the UK Government website https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa/entry-requirements and USA Customs and Border Protection website.
Attendees have full responsibility for their entry requirements. If you are an international student, please contact your relevant embassy or government website to check your travel permissions and any steps you need to take to gain access to the United States.
UCFB encourages all attendees to check their travel permissions and make their visa arrangements well in advance, in case of any VISA processing delays.
No. Places are only available for current UCFB students.
Yes! Availability permitting, there is nothing to stop attendees from booking to attend a Miami Global Sports Summit in addition to the fully funded Road to the World Cup Experience.
Yes – we know that attendees will want time to themselves to explore the area at their leisure and this will be scheduled into the experience agenda.
Attendees are expected to attend all activities on the experience agenda, this is a prerequisite for securing a fully funded place on the experience.
Yes – Travel Insurance is mandatory, Student attendees are required to purchase their own travel insurance for the duration of the Road to the World Cup Experience.
Yes. Once the final travelling list is confirmed there will be opportunities on campus to meet the other students who will be attending the Experience. After this, everyone will have the opportunity to nominate their roommate. It will be up to the attendees to arrange this and to let the UCFB Events team know who they wish to share a room with. For anyone without a nominated roommate, UCFB will pair up with others of the same disclosed gender.
Should you be successful in securing a place on the trip, please inform the UCFB Events Team as soon as possible after being selected, so that appropriate accommodations can be made.
For more information, you can contact the UCFB Events Team via email, Global@ucfb.com
To be eligible, students must be fully enrolled at UCFB for Semester B of the 2024-25 academic year, have a clean disciplinary record, attend at least three Employability & Career Planning Events in Semester A, maintain at least 80% attendance in Semester A, and be able to legally travel to the USA with a valid passport and visa (or relevant travel document). Additionally, they must provide evidence of purchased travel insurance for the duration of the trip.
If selected, students will need to confirm their place by paying a £150 deposit to UCFB within the allocated time frame. This deposit will be fully refundable immediately after the trip has taken place. You will also be required to submit specified travel documents to us by a deadline, else your place on the trip may be at risk.
The £150 deposit is required to confirm your place on the trip. It will be fully refundable immediately after the trip has taken place and the student has attended scheduled activities.
For the 2024-2025 academic year, Semester A will run from September 2024 until December 2024, Semester B will run from January 2025 to May 2025.
You must be registered and actively participating in your courses for the second semester of the 2024-25 academic year at UCFB.
A clean student disciplinary record means that the student has not been subject to any disciplinary actions or violations of UCFB's student code of conduct.
The UCFB Events Team will consult the ECP team to confirm student attendance. Students should also attempt to keep an individual record of participation, as good practice.
Students must provide a copy of their passport and any necessary visas or relevant travel documents that grant them access to the USA. Selected students will be given a deadline to produce these – if this deadline is not met then their place will be allocated to another student.
Students without a valid passport or visa should begin the application process as soon as possible to ensure they meet the eligibility criteria before the trip.
No. The Road to the World Cup Experience is not a Global Sports Summit, and so does not qualify for any free tickets that have been given as part of scholarships.
