Need help choosing lens for World Cup final

[alexquintela]

Hi all!

I recently purchased a Canon Rebel T5i camera.  I'm going to the World Cup final and need a little help choosing a distance lens.  I'm a complete novice with cameras, and don't have much money to spend. I'm looking in the $200-$300 range for lenses.  I will be sitting in the upper levels of the stadium for the game, but I will be in the front row of that level.

I am currently going back and forth between the two lenses:

Canon - EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Telephoto Zoom Lens - $200

Canon - EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II Telephoto Zoom Lens - $250

Will the 250 mm lens give me the distance needed to take pictures of the players on the field?

If I go with the 300, will taking pictures of subjects at that distance be of poor quality do to the lack of IS?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thank you!

-Alex

[TCampbell]

The bigger question is... can you even bring it to the event?

See:  http://tickets.fifanz2015.com/content/pdf/loc_venueregulations.pdf

Under "Prohibited Items" they list:

• Photographic, video or audio recording equipment for any purpose other than private non- commercial purposes, which may include, without limitation, video and/or audio recorders, camera tripods, monopods or lenses with a total focal strength of greater than 200mm and commercial digital video equipment. The Event Management Staff will, at their sole discretion, determine whether or not an item is intended for personal or commercial use.

This isn't unusual.  MANY commercial venues for sports, theater, concerts, etc. will not allow cameras that they consider to be a bit too nice... usually I see limits on either the maximum focal length of the lens, maximum physical length of the lens, and very often they simply will not allow any camera that has a "removeable lens" (in other words camera phones or point & shoot cameras with non-removeable lenses would be ok, but not DSLRs or Mirrorless (MILC) cameras.)

[ebiggs1]

If allowed, as Tim Campbell warns against, there won't be a great deal of difference between the two lenses you are looking at.

IMHO, I would prefer the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM Lens.

[alexquintela]

Thank you for the responses so far.  The document you linked to is not the event I'm attending.  I've already contacted the venue hosting the event, and checked their camera policies and the event's policies.  That is not an issue.

I'm here purely looking to see what would be the best lens of the two options I'm looking at.