Ticket prices for the 2026 World Cup have risen sharply on FIFA’s official resale website. Seats for many matches are being listed for several times their original price, even though most tickets were only recently sent out after the main sales period ended in January.
This comes just weeks after FIFA president Gianni Infantino warned that tickets on resale sites were likely to be extremely expensive. Those concerns have now become reality, and this is happening on FIFA’s own platform.
On Wednesday, a Category 3 ticket (one of the cheapest seating sections) for the opening match between Mexico and South Africa at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on 11 June was listed at $5,324. The original price was $895.
Prices for the final were even more shocking. A Category 3 ticket for the World Cup final on 19 July in East Rutherford, New Jersey, was being advertised for $143,750, more than 41 times the original price of $3,450.
The cheapest available ticket for the final on the resale site was listed at $9,775.
In a small number of cases, prices have actually dropped. For example, a ticket for Austria’s group match against Jordan at Levi’s Stadium in California was listed at $552, even though it originally cost $620.
For many fans around the world, these resale prices confirm what they have complained about since the tournament draw in December.
Guillaume Aupretre, a spokesperson for the France supporters’ group Irresistibles Francais, said the prices did not surprise him. He said it showed that many people buy tickets only to sell them on for profit. He added that it is the passionate supporters who suffer most, as they are the ones faced with the highest prices, rather than the real fans getting fair access.
Despite the huge prices, tickets are still selling quickly. FIFA says it has received around 500 million ticket requests, showing the massive worldwide demand.
Although the resale platform is officially linked to FIFA, FIFA states in its terms and conditions that it is only acting as a middleman. It charges a 15% fee, but says the sellers decide the resale prices.
In a statement, FIFA said its pricing model reflects normal market practice for major entertainment and sporting events in the host countries. It also said this is linked to how ticket resale is treated legally in different places. FIFA added that it is trying to ensure fair access for both current fans and new supporters.
Ticket resale rules vary across the three host countries. The resale market is largely unregulated in the United States and Canada. In Mexico, reselling a ticket above face value is banned, but only if the ticket was bought in Mexico using local currency.
Ticket prices have become one of the most controversial topics surrounding the 2026 World Cup. Fan organisations such as Football Supporters Europe have accused FIFA of a “huge betrayal” because of the way pricing has been handled.
In response, FIFA introduced a small number of tickets priced at $60 for official supporters’ groups. However, critics say this is nowhere near enough to solve the wider issue.
FIFA has been notifying ticket applicants since 5 February about whether they were successful in the second sales phase, which ended in January.
A final “last-minute” sales phase will run from April until the end of the tournament, and tickets will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis.
During the sales periods, FIFA says it uses “variable pricing”, meaning prices change depending on demand and availability for each match. However, FIFA says it does not use a fully dynamic pricing system where prices automatically adjust.
