At Brooklyn's Prospect Park, several young players from the SC Gjøa Soccer club told the BBC they were lucky enough to secure tickets to the tournament.
Goalkeeper Baxter Rowland is attending two matches - one with his family and the other with a group of friends who have chartered a bus.
But it turns out getting tickets was only the first battle. His mother, Alice Baxter, has decided to drive to the first game. She says she's been researching and is worried about the traffic getting to the stadium, parking and then leaving.
"I think it's going to be a little bit stressful, and I think it might be difficult for the first few games, at least," she says. "Hopefully it'll get better and they'll work out the kinks, especially with the final here in New Jersey and New York."
Similarly, Dennis Wyrwoll is excited he is able to take his 10-year-old son Nicholas to four matches, but has already accepted that getting there is going to be more painful than it was the last time the US hosted.
"I was here in 1994, when we had the last World Cup, and at that point, nobody knew anything about football," he told the BBC. "It was easy to get tickets. I think this time around, there's lot of excitement in New York but I'm curious to see how it builds outside of the big cities where there aren't as many soccer fans."
The beautiful game may have a smaller footprint in the United States, but the public interest has been growing over the years.
Coach Kaha Tavadze says that in the past year, the club has had triple the amount of players joining and trying out, and believes that's directly due to the World Cup being hosted here. He says children now follow the sport more closely, know every player and wear their favourite team's jersey.
This World Cup could even inspire some to dream of going professional, he suggested. "Watching live games, especially at that level, will change their mindset," he said.
Other families are hoping they'll be able to find last-minute tickets. Shantay Armstrong's seven-year-old son has been playing football with the club for five years and really wants to go. She recently tried the raffle for affordable tickets offered by New York, but says within minutes the website said the raffle was closed for any more submissions.
"It's almost heartbreaking that there's like a lack of accessibility for people who can't afford to go," she told the BBC. "I wanted to give him that opportunity, but that lack of opportunity makes me feel locked out, and almost like... we're here but we're not here."
Officials are hosting free fan zones where those without tickets can join in on the experience.
But there's also a push to get residents and visitors into local businesses in the hope they too will benefit from Fifa's financial windfall.
Enda Keenan owns Legends Bar - across from the Empire State Building and the home bar to many overseas clubs. He believes New York businesses will see a massive boost and has had to turn down business, including from Fifa.
"My son Evan had a meeting with one of the officials from New York, New Jersey Fifa," he said. "A lady came in to see in what way we could help. I said we can't help ourselves it's going to be so crazy. We'd love to help, but there's nothing we can do."
For the Champions League final, Legends had 1,300 people inside the bar and another 700 outside, where they had set up an 85in television and sold beers right on the sidewalk. They sent the overflow of customers to five other nearby bars.
With approximately 1.2 million visitors expected to travel to the New York, New Jersey region during the World Cup, Keenan anticipates it being even busier, saying it's a "different level altogether".
Whether the US is ready, or not, will be quickly apparent.
