Want to see the World Cup final? Do you have $10,000 to spare?
One day after the six national teams secured the remaining spots in the World Cup, FIFA opened a “last-minute” ticket window Wednesday that listed the highest prices yet on the tournament’s official ticketing platform.
Tickets in the highest-tier seat category for the tournament’s final on July 19 in New Jersey eclipsed $10,000 for the first time. The most expensive ticket listed by FIFA was $10,990. The most expensive ticket for the 2022 final in Qatar went for around $1,600.
Ticket prices rose across the board. As costs for big matchups soared, tickets for matches featuring lower-ranked teams also reached several hundred dollars a pop. FIFA is using a dynamic pricing model for the first time at a World Cup, citing high demand and norms in the North American market.
This week’s rollout was the first time that FIFA opted for an open public ticketing model for the 2026 tournament instead of releasing tickets to smaller batches of fans selected in a lottery or through their supporters groups. With each release, prices for many matches have gone up.
On Thursday, fans waited for hours in the digital queue. FIFA in error sent some fans the wrong link, and they waited before realizing the mistake and jumping to the back of the proper line.
FIFA has delivered mixed messaging throughout the ticket process. President Gianni Infantino told CNBC in February: “Every match is already sold out. We keep some tickets back for some last-minute sales, of course, but every match is sold out.” Later that month, the global governing body emailed fans about a ticket window without telling them when it would be.
FIFA has said fans submitted more than 500 million ticket requests. But it’s still selling tickets, with high prices for games across the tournament.
World Cup tickets have been released in a number of windows since the fall, including a Visa presale in September, an early draw in October, another window in December and January, and the unexpected drop in February. The window opened Wednesday will remain in place through the end of the tournament.
The tickets made available for the final on Wednesday sold out. In addition to the nearly $11,000 Category 1 ticket, FIFA also included tickets for $7,380 and $5,785 for the next two lower tiers. Many knockout games saw price increases, as did the tournament opener in Mexico, which rose to nearly $3,000 for a Category 1 ticket, as well as several group-stage matches.
FIFA originally said that group-stage tickets would start at $60, and after backlash over their availability, opened up a $60 ticket tier routed to supporters through national federations. Even then, options were limited, with each federation getting only about 500 tickets at the $60 level per match.
