Ticket prices for the 2026 World Cup reach $8,000

Ticket prices for the 2026 FIFA World Cup range between $900 for the opening match and $8,000 for the final match, which makes attending the most important football event in the world, which begins in 100 days, very expensive.

According to the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), about seven million tickets have been put up for sale in total, and each person is allowed to purchase a maximum of four tickets for one match, and not to exceed 40 tickets throughout the tournament.

About two million tickets were sold during the first phase of the show through a lottery, which took place in October. As for the second phase, which was held in December and January, it was also a lottery system, and attracted a record number of 508 million applications, according to what FIFA reported.

The International Federation did not reveal the exact number of tickets allocated at this stage, but the matches that witnessed the highest rates of demand were the final round of Group 11 between Colombia and Portugal in Miami on June 27, and the host Mexico match against South Korea in Guadalajara on June 18, in addition to the final match scheduled at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19.

The expanded World Cup, the first in history with the participation of 48 teams, will witness the holding of 104 matches, amid a remarkable rise in ticket prices, especially for the most sought-after matches.

The European Football Fans Association had indicated that the joint bid to host the tournament in North America initially pledged to offer tickets at prices starting at $21, but the cheapest tickets actually offered amounted to $60, as was the case in the opening match of the tenth group between Austria and Jordan at Levi Stadium in California.

The prices of most tickets exceed $200 for matches that bring together major teams, while ticket prices for the final match start at $2,000 and reach $8,680 for the best seats. These numbers do not include the prices displayed on FIFA’s official resale platform, where one of the third category seats for the July 19 final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey was offered at a shocking price of $143,750, more than 41 times its original value of $3,450.

For his part, FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirms that the high prices simply reflect the huge volume of demand, pointing to “the adoption of a dynamic pricing system in the United States, where prices rise or fall,” depending on the nature of the match and the level of demand for it.

In the face of continued criticism regarding the high prices, FIFA announced the creation of a lower-priced category of tickets, but the seats available for $60 were allocated to fans of the qualified teams only, and represented 10% of each national federation’s quota.