FIFA relents and reduces ticket prices for the 2026 World Cup matches.

 

2026 World Cup

FIFA relents and reduces ticket prices for the 2026 World Cup matches.

The organizing committee for the FIFA World Cup has launched a lower-priced ticket category after facing continued criticism over ticket prices for the 2026 edition, which will be held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico next summer.

FIFA said in a statement that it has launched “fan entry” tickets priced at US$60 each, available for all 104 matches, including the final, in an initiative designed to support traveling fans and encourage them to follow their national teams throughout the tournament.

The statement added: The $60 tickets will be allocated to fans of the qualifying teams and will constitute 10 percent of each national federation's ticket allocation.
The European Football Supporters Association, which had previously expressed its dissatisfaction with the "exorbitant prices" that FIFA intends to impose on tickets for the 2026 World Cup, said that what the world's highest football body has offered is still too little.

The association explained in its statement: "While we welcome what appears to be FIFA's acknowledgment of the damage its original plans would have caused, the amendments do not go far enough. At present, we consider its announcement merely an attempt to quell the global outrage resulting from the criticism."

She added: This shows that FIFA's ticketing policy has not yet been finalized, and that it was put in place hastily and without proper consultation, including with the member associations themselves.
She continued: Based on the publicly announced quotas, this means that very few fans per match and per team will be lucky enough to benefit from the $60 tickets, while the vast majority will have to pay high prices, much higher than in any previous tournament.

The association indicated last week that following a team from the first match to the final would cost a fan at least $6,900, nearly five times the cost during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
When announcing the $60 tickets on Tuesday, FIFA stressed that national associations must ensure that these tickets are allocated to their loyal fans who are closely associated with their national teams.