At World Cup ticket prices, even Lionel Messi can’t fill a stadium

KANSAS CITY – Lionel Messi is perhaps the biggest draw in all of sport right now. Playing in what is almost certainly his final World Cup, each game could be the last on the most vaunted of stages for the 39-year-old Argentina captain.

But in Argentina’s quarter-final victory over Switzerland on July 11 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, which accommodates 69,000 fans, big chunks of seats were empty.

While the reason for the vacant seats was not immediately clear, it is possible that high ticket prices kept some fans away.

Seats at the 2026 World Cup have been the most expensive in the tournament’s history, costing at least three times more than those at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which to that point had been the costliest ever.

On July 11, expensive yellow seats in the middle of the second tier at Arrowhead were empty, and higher up in the third tier, many seats were filled by FIFA volunteers distinguishable by their lime green jackets.

Ticket prices on resale sites, including FIFA’s own, generally hovered between US$1,500 (S$1,900) and US$4,000.

FIFA did not respond to questions about the empty seats. An announcement after the game said that tickets for the tournament’s semi-final games were still available on FIFA’s sales platform, which gives the football body a 30 per cent cut of each ticket resold.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino, however, recently told Swiss television outlet Blue Sport: “The stadiums are full. Capacity utilisation is at 99.7 per cent and it will likely reach 99.9 per cent by the end.”

Before the tournament began in June, Infantino, said that pricing at the games in North America reflected domestic market conditions, mainly in the United States, where most of the matches were played.

Fans and politicians have accused FIFA of profiteering and taking advantage of its monopoly over the biggest event in global sports.

Even with some unsold tickets, the tournament – the biggest with 48 teams playing 104 games, many in cavernous National Football League stadiums – has already broken attendance records.

FIFA is expecting to generate more than US$3 billion in ticket sales this tournament, more than double its previous record. NYTIMES