FIFA World Cup 2026 tickets' dynamic pricing feels unfair to fans

Soccer fans are a forgiving lot. They may look the other way when FIFA hands out tournament rights through what has long felt like a suspicious model, when its boss, Gianni Infantino, appears a little too comfortable alongside world autocrats, or even when scandals that once shook the organization seem to quietly fade from memory.

The pricing of tickets for the FIFA World Cup 2026 might finally be where that patience runs out, however. The ticket price for the top tier has risen, as have the costs for other categories. US Congress members wrote in a letter on March 10 that the new dynamic model would make the event the most financially exclusionary and inaccessible to date. They have a point. An article by The Athletic has also cited fans feeling scammed over website crashes. These crashes only pushed the price up after every failed attempt to purchase a ticket. It felt like something fishy was going on in the background. And frankly, given FIFA’s reputation, it’s not too difficult to imagine that this is happening—although it remains purely speculative. However, the ticket pricing hikes are not speculative—they are tangible facts. The top ticket price went up to $8,680 after the December draw. There were increases in Category 2 final tickets as well as Category 3 final tickets, by +$1,805 and +$1,600, respectively.

The opener game between Mexico and Saudi Arabia increased by $630 to $2,985, for example. Worse still, the buying process is slow and frustrating. There are hours-long queues, and the launch of ticket sales was marred by controversies, such as links that took you nowhere. Confusion stemmed from the fact that FIFA failed to specifically disclose which matches were available and what categories certain games belonged to. This only added to the confusion.