The organisation of World Cup 2026 continues to be controversial. Several associations, including Football Supporters Europe (FSE) and the Football Supporters' Association (FSA) in England and Wales, have asked FIFA to immediately stop tickets sales due to the "disgraceful" prices.
For the first time in the World Cup, prices are not consistent and vary depending on demand and attractiveness, that are pushing fans away from the competition. It is the same system that was used for the FIFA Club World Cup, held last year in the United States, too.
The association says that prices for tickets allocated to Participating Member Associations (PMA), which are typically distributed via official supporters' clubs or loyalty schemes, have reached "astronomical" levels. A supporter that would like to watch their team from the first group stage match to the final (eight games in total, as this edition has round of 32) would have to pay $6,900, almost five times the equivalent from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. A ticket to the final can rise to $4,000.
"You need fans, you need the life in the stands, you need the colour, you need the atmosphere. With these prices, none of this will happen", FSE Executive Director Ronan Evain said. (via Reuters).
"We back Football Supporters Europe in calling for a halt in ticket sales and we are calling on the FA to work with fellow FAs to directly challenge these disgraceful prices", added the English football association.
The recently elected mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, campaigned against FIFA for the exorbitant prices of the World Cup. World Cup 2026 takes place in the US, Mexico and Canada, and the current FIFA's leadership, headed by Gianni Infantino, is aligned with Donald Trump, to the point that they broke their own rules of neutrailty, according to some organisations, when they awarded the FIFA Peace Price to the US President.