Supporter groups say soaring ticket prices threaten to turn the 2026 Games into a “corporate tournament”.
Soccer’s main fan group has called on FIFA to immediately halt ticket sales for next year’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, warning that supporters will be barred from the tournament as prices for premier finals seats reach nearly $9,000.
Football Supporters Europe called out ticket prices on Thursday, calling them “exorbitant” after national associations began distributing price lists showing up to seven times the price of tickets for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
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The group said the pricing structure was a “grave betrayal” of the tournament’s traditions and called for urgent consultation before sales continued.
Based on pricing details released by the German, English and Croatian soccer federations, fans attending all matches from the group stage to the championship game next June and July will cost at least $6,900 via official supporter channels.
Premium tickets for the July 19 final at New York’s MetLife Stadium cost $8,680, compared to around $1,600 for the equivalent category in Qatar.
FIFA is already under intense scrutiny after world soccer’s governing body awarded the inaugural Peace Prize to the US leader, whose president Gianni Infantino lavished praise on US President Donald Trump and was furious that he was prevented from winning this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
This prompted formal complaints over ethics violations and political neutrality. Human rights group Fair Square said on Tuesday it had filed a complaint with FIFA’s Ethics Committee, saying the group’s actions were contrary to the common interests of the global football community.
This latest controversy comes as FIFA launches the third phase of ticket sales, which now sees variable prices applied to group stage matches based on what the governing body calls the “attractiveness” of the matches, without explaining how they are calculated.
Seats behind the goal for England’s opening game against Croatia will carry a $523 price tag, but Scottish supporters will pay less for comparable games, creating what critics call an opaque two-tier system.
Ronan Evine, executive director of Football Supporters Europe, said: “Given the price that FIFA has offered, we are a bit surprised.”
He warned that as final ticket prices approach $4,000, stadiums will lose the atmosphere that makes the tournament so appealing, adding that with current pricing, “nothing like that will happen.”
Henry Winter, a prominent British soccer writer, warned that removing the passionate supporters who create the atmosphere risks turning the tournament into what he called a “corporate tournament”, with broadcasters who pay FIFA billions being faced with empty seats and silent crowds.
For fans traveling from outside North America, the financial burden goes beyond tickets. Gary Alsmith, who covers African soccer, warned that this would be an “extremely expensive World Cup for fans”, noting that supporters “will be flying in from outside the United States and spending money on accommodation and food”.
The pricing represents a significant departure from FIFA’s 2018 bid document for tournaments in the United States, Canada and Mexico, which estimated group stage tickets to start at $21.
FIFA has completely excluded the cheapest ticket tier from supporter group allocations and withheld Category 4 seats, which are subject to variable demand-based pricing, from general sale.
