Incorrectly priced tickets have been sold through the World Cup’s official website ahead of next week’s FIFA marquee event.
Published June 5, 2026
FIFA has canceled World Cup tickets issued to about 60 fans who mistakenly received them for free due to a website error.
FIFA said in a statement Thursday that the tickets were “allocated free of charge ($0) due to an issue with advance payment during the checkout process.”
Recommended stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
“FIFA regrets this error and the trouble it has caused,” soccer’s governing body said. “Tickets requested by these fans remain reserved and affected fans are encouraged to complete payment of the correct amount.”
This is the latest glitch in the often controversial World Cup ticket sales program, which is being investigated by the attorneys general of New York and New Jersey for possible violations of consumer protection laws.
FIFA said in an email message to buyers that the incorrectly priced tickets were sold through the World Cup’s official website on May 21.
The day comes more than three months after FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced that all 104 World Cup matches had been sold out.
Tickets for the World Cup matches, which begin next Thursday in Mexico City, continue to be sold by FIFA. It is unclear whether seats at low-demand games will become cheaper under FIFA’s surge pricing model, which is controversial among fans.
FIFA also operates its own resale platform to remove ticket sellers from the market, taking a 15 percent commission from both buyers and sellers. However, sales platforms such as SeatGeek made many games widely available on Friday.
Tickets for the 2026 World Cup will be significantly more expensive than any previous ticket, but FIFA has justified this by saying it will generate billions of dollars in revenue to give to member federations for global game development.
FIFA took control of ticket pricing and sales as part of bringing World Cup operations in-house. The long-standing model in previous editions was to work with the host country’s local organizing committee.
When the U.S., Canadian and Mexican soccer federations won hosting rights in 2018, they promised to sell hundreds of thousands of tickets for group stage games at $21 each. FIFA was selling official front-row tickets to the final for $32,970.
