Football’s governing body is selling more tickets but introducing a new premium price tier, which has angered some fans.
Published April 22, 2026
FIFA is selling more World Cup tickets after adding a new, more expensive category that angered some fans.
FIFA announced on Tuesday that in addition to the new “Front Category” pricing added this month, more tickets will be available for all 104 games in Categories 1, 2 and 3 from 11:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
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This new category led to complaints online from fans who thought they were being assigned less favorable spots while better seats in the categories they had purchased tickets for were held back.
FIFA sold tickets in December at prices ranging from $140 for the first round of Category 3 matches to $8,680 for the final, but when sales resumed on April 1, prices increased to up to $10,990.
FIFA did not respond to a request for comment on April 9 regarding the new ticket categories it added.
Also Tuesday, The Athletic reported that ticket sales for the U.S. opener against Paraguay on June 12 in Inglewood, Calif., have been delayed. The newspaper said an April 10 document distributed to local organizers said 40,934 tickets were purchased for the April 15 game between the United States and Paraguay, and 50,661 tickets were purchased for the game between Iran and New Zealand.
FIFA expects the capacity of Los Angeles SoFi Stadium, which will host the games between the United States and Paraguay and between Iran and New Zealand, to be approximately 69,650, but notes that this is subject to change.
In FIFA’s December sale, U.S. vs. Paraguay tickets were sold for $1,120, $1,940, and $2,735, and Iran vs. New Zealand tickets were sold for $140, $380, and $450.
