Football has long been regarded as “The People’s Game” due to its accessibility and universal appeal, yet soaring ticket prices at the World Cup are putting that identity under serious strain. Many fans have found themselves priced out of what is a prohibitively expensive tournament. Not only does North American travel and hospitality come at a premium, but FIFA have compounded the issue by setting eye-watering ticket prices.
The decision to prioritise profit over all else has predictably gone down poorly with many fans and groups. The Football Supporters’ Association has called ticket prices a “laughable insult” to fans. Following this significant backlash, FIFA made a minor concession by introducing a small number of tickets with a $60 cap, but this extremely limited measure has done nothing to improve fan attitude towards FIFA.
Just How Expensive Are World Cup Tickets?
Compared to any previous World Cup, the tickets available for the 2026 edition are extremely pricey. The table below highlights just how expensive they are. It is also worth noting that Category 4 tickets make up a tiny portion of all available seats, with most options being Category 1 and Category 2.
| Match Type | Cat 1 | Cat 2 | Cat 3 | Cat 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group Match | $345-$805 | $260-$605 | $120-$280 | $60-$140 |
| Round of 16 | $890 | $675 | $330 | $220 |
| Quarter-Finals | $1690 | $1150 | $725 | $410 |
| Semi-Finals | $2780 | $1920 | $720 | $455 |
| Final | $6370 | $4210 | $2790 | $2030 |
To put a purely capitalistic hat on for a moment, one could say that if all the tickets sell, then they are priced at the “right” level. While one could argue that, there is a real sense that FIFA, in their role as a non-profit governing body, should be aiming to ensure genuine fans get seats ahead of wealthy locals. It is hard to think this was ever a serious consideration, though, given that the cheapest ticket to Haiti’s clash versus Scotland ($180) is significantly more than the average weekly wage ($147) in Haiti.
There has been no genuine effort to make tickets affordable to regular, committed fans of each competing nation. The recent announcement of “supporter entry” tier tickets capped at $60 initially seemed like a step in the right direction, but the allocation comprises an abysmal 1.6% of available tickets. It is better than nothing, admittedly, but only just.
To make matters worse, the official resale/exchange marketplace allows tickets to be resold at no cap. This has resulted in tickets being listed way above their face value. FIFA themselves are quite happy for tickets to sell at inflated prices as they receive a 30% share of the resale price.
North America is simply an expensive place to visit; FIFA can do nothing about that. But they can control ticket prices. Rather than make tickets as accessible as possible, they have decided to make as much profit as possible. Forget there are 104 matches to be played, up from the usual 64; this increase in supply has done nothing to keep prices low.
To rub salt in the wounds, it seems FIFA are now planning on charging fans to enter the official fan zones, which have historically been free. These are large areas where ticketless fans gather to watch the game together on a giant screen. Full details of this are yet to come out, but the Fan Festival in New Jersey was showing a $12.50 entry ticket, with an early bird discount.
Are Fans Right to Be Angry?
Widespread high prices combined with a paltry number of $60 support-tier and Category 4 tickets, charges on fan zone entry and no cap on resold tickets, make this an unprecedentedly greedy World Cup. Fans would perhaps not be so angry if all the profits were going to a good cause, and FIFA were using the tournament to distribute wealth to the areas that need it most.
While some of the profits will go to supporting football across the globe, prize money at the tournament has risen by more than 50% compared to Qatar 2022. This excludes the $1.5m given to each team to cover preparation costs. Out of the teams likely to go far in the tournament, how many of them desperately need $27m for finishing in fourth place or $50m for winning the competition?
FIFA can easily afford the prize money as advertising rights and ticket sales are expected to pocket them at least $10bn (£7.4bn) in revenue. When they are making so much money from the tournament, it begs the question: do they really need to rinse fans for every penny? Even if they were to half the price of every single ticket, they would still pocket an absolute fortune.
If FIFA were a for-profit private business, such aggressive pricing would be more understandable, albeit still unpopular, but their approach undermines their objective of spreading the beautiful game. Bringing real, passionate fans to the World Cup is the best way to inspire a new generation of supporters, but FIFA’s pursuit of profits will simply keep these people at home.
For many fans who have not witnessed their country at the World Cup for many decades, if ever, they will sadly be forced to miss out on a special moment due to FIFA’s outrageous pricing.
