Football Dec 18, 2025

World Cup ticket prices explained: Why fans face 'extortionate' cost to attend tournament in US, Mexico and Canada

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By Admin
Sports Journalist
World Cup ticket prices explained: Why fans face 'extortionate' cost to attend tournament in US, Mexico and Canada

FIFA is facing a backlash over ticket prices for the 2026 World Cup, with the cheapest for the final costing over £3,000.

Ticket prices were revealed on Thursday with an increase of almost 500 per cent across the board compared to the World Cup in Qatar three years ago.

The Football Supporters' Association (FSA) has called on the FA to challenge FIFA on the pricing, which the FSA described as "scandalous" and a "laughable insult" to the average fan.

The tournament takes place in the United States, Mexico and Canada next summer, with fans already facing significant travel and accommodation costs.

The cheapest ticket for the final - should England reach that stage - costs between $4,185 (£3,120) and $8,680 (£6,471) for members of the England Supporters' Travel Club.

The Scottish FA confirmed its participant member association (PMA) allocation pricing, with the cheapest tickets for the opening match against Haiti in Boston costing $180 (£134) up to $500 (£373).

The cheapest tickets for Scotland's second game against Morocco, also in Boston, start at $220 (£164), while the final group game against Brazil in Miami will cost a minimum $265 (£198).

Football Supporters Europe (FSE) said based on the information it had available so far, fans faced paying just over £6,000 to attend all of their team's matches from the first game to the final via the PMA allocation - five times more than they would have paid to do so at the last finals in Qatar.

FIFA also announced ticket prices for the latest general lottery sales phase, which is open to all fans until January.

Tickets for group games are between $140 (£104) and $2,735 (£2,046). In the knockout phase, they are $190 (£142) to $790 (£591) for the round of 32, $220 (£164) to $980 (£733) for the round of 16, $535 (£400) to $1,775 (£1,327) for the quarter finals, $905 (£677) to $3,295 (£2,465) for the semi finals and $4,185 (£3,130) to $8,680 (£6,493) for the final.

All tickets can also be bought and sold on an official resale platform - with FIFA taking a 30 per cent commission.

FSE stated that rather than adopting a standard price across all group matches, pricing appeared to have been calculated "dependent on vague criteria such as the perceived attractiveness of the fixture".

Dynamic pricing will be used in some phases of World Cup ticket sales. However, the governing body has confirmed that it will not apply during the main ballot. The price you see at the start of the window will be the same at the end.

The official 2026 World Cup bid said the cheapest tickets all the way through the tournament would range from $21 (£15) to $128 (£96).

Tickets for the Euro 2024 final between England and Spain in Berlin were available from £83.

FIFA is refusing to comment after releasing the World Cup ticket prices although it did say that there had been five million ticket requests in 24 hours, which "underlines soaring global demand".

FIFA's position on ticket prices has always been that it is a non-profit organisation and any money it makes from ticket sales is reinvested in football.

The FSA said the prices proposed to members of the England Supporters Travel Club (ESTC) were "scandalous" and "a step too far for many supporters who passionately and loyally follow their national sides at home and abroad".

"Everything we feared about the direction in which FIFA wants to take the game was confirmed - Gianni Infantino only sees supporter loyalty as something to be exploited for profit," it said.

"This is a tournament that is supposed to be celebrated by the world, where fans of all nations come together for the love of football. FIFA has decided to make it all about the money and the elite who can afford it.

"For FIFA, loyalty is not the hard-working fan travelling thousands of miles in support of their team at qualifiers around the continent. A game that should be for all is now only for those who can afford it."

Football Supporters Europe (FSE) described FIFA's approach as a "monumental betrayal" of fans.

"Football Supporters Europe is astonished by the extortionate ticket prices imposed by FIFA on the most dedicated supporters for next year's FIFA World Cup," a statement said.

"This is a monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup, ignoring the contribution of supporters to the spectacle it is.

"We call on FIFA to immediately halt PMA ticket sales, engage in a consultation with all impacted parties, and review ticket prices and category distribution until a solution that respects the tradition, universality, and cultural significance of the World Cup is found."

England fans' group Free Lions posted on X to say it backed FSE's statement, adding that these were "shocking prices, above and beyond the already high costs we suspected".

The Scottish Football Supporters Association have written an open letter to Scottish FA CEO Ian Maxwell regarding the ticket prices and allocations for next summer's World Cup.

They say they have been inundated with correspondence from members asking them to seek answers on how this position was reached.

They do recognise that the Scottish FA have limited direct influence over FIFA's pricing strategy but say they do have a responsibility to represent their supporters as they are being priced out of attending their first World Cup in 28 years

The SFSA believe that the current pricing and allocation framework is not just merely unpopular; it is fundamentally misjudged.

The SFSA had previously called on national associations to "hold FIFA to account" over the ticket prices.

John MacLean, the CEO of the SFSA pointed out that Scottish Football Association president Mike Mulraney - recently appointed the chair of FIFA's finance committee - was ideally placed "to express the widespread disappointment of Scottish fans and indeed fans all around the world at ticket prices that are, in some cases, five times the cost in Qatar".

The Association of Tartan Army Clubs (ATAC) branded the costs "disgraceful and disgusting" and said the fact FIFA would charge a refund fee for fans who book up for the knockout stages means it will "bleed the last cent from disillusioned supporters".

Group A: Mexico, South Korea, South Africa, Republic of Ireland/Denmark/North Macedonia/Czech Republic

Group B: Canada, Switzerland, Qatar, Wales/Northern Ireland/Italy/Bosnia-Herzegovina

Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Scotland, Haiti

Group D: USA, Australia, Paraguay, Turkey/Romania/Slovakia/Kosovo

Group E: Germany, Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Curacao

Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia, Poland/Ukraine/Sweden/Albania

Group G: Belgium, Iran, Egypt, New Zealand

Group H: Spain, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde

Group I: France, Senegal, Norway, Iraq or Bolivia/Suriname

Group J: Argentina, Austria, Algeria, Jordan

Group K: Portugal, Colombia, Uzbekistan, DR Congo or Jamaica/New Caledonia

Group L: England, Croatia, Panama, Ghana

Group stage: June 11-27

Round of 32: June 28 to July 3

Round of 16: July 4-7

Quarter-finals: July 9-11

Semi-finals: July 14-15

Third-place play-off ('Bronze final'): July 18

Final: July 19

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