FIFA announces US$60 World Cup tickets after pricing backlash

ZURICH – World Cup organisers unveiled a new cut-price ticket category on Dec 16 after a backlash by fans over pricing for the 2026 tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

FIFA said in a statement that it had created a limited number of “Supporter Entry Tier” tickets fixed at US$60 (S$77.50) for all 104 matches, including the final.

It said the plan was “designed to further support travelling fans following their national teams across the tournament”.

Football’s world governing body also said that the US$60 tickets would be reserved for fans of qualified teams and would make up 10 per cent of each national federation’s allotment.

Fan group Football Supporters Europe (FSE), which last week called prices “extortionate” and “astronomical”, responded by saying that FIFA was offering too little.

“While we welcome FIFA’s seeming recognition of the damage its original plans were to cause, the revisions do not go far enough,” it said.

Last week, FSE said ticket prices were almost five times higher than in 2022 in Qatar, describing FIFA’s pricing for 2026 as a “monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup”.

“If a supporter were to follow their team from the first match to the final, it would cost them a minimum of US$6,900,” it said at the time, adding that World Cup organisers had promised tickets priced from US$21 in a bid document released in 2018.

On Dec 16, FSE said FIFA’s partial ticketing U-turn exposed flaws in how prices for the tournament had been set.

“For the moment, we are looking at the FIFA announcement as nothing more than an appeasement tactic due to the global negative backlash,” it said.

“This shows that FIFA’s ticketing policy is not set in stone, was decided in a rush and without proper consultation – including with FIFA’s own member associations.

“Based on the allocations publicly available, this would mean that at best a few hundred fans per match and team would be lucky enough to take advantage of the US$60 prices, while the vast majority would still have to pay extortionate prices.”

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer echoed FSE, stating the cheaper ticket category did not go far enough.

“As someone who used to save up for England tickets, I encourage FIFA to do more to make tickets more affordable so that the World Cup doesn’t lose touch with the genuine supporters who make the game so special,” he said.

Announcing the US$60 tickets, FIFA said that national federations “are requested to ensure that these tickets are specifically allocated to loyal fans who are closely connected to their national teams”.

It added that it was making the announcement “amid extraordinary global demand for tickets” with 20 million requests already submitted. AFP