FIFA faces outrage over ‘extortionate’ World Cup prices with fan group urging halt of ticket sales: ‘Disgraceful’

FIFA finds itself in the spotlight in the build-up to the 2026 World Cup with a fan group slamming the Zurich-based organisation for its “extortionate” ticket pricing for the showpiece event that will be taking place in North America next summer.

Football Supporters Europe (FSE) has accused FIFA of by attempting to shut ordinary fans out of the tournament by hiking prices for tickets allocated to Participating Member Associations (PMA) to “astronomical levels”. Such tickets are usually distributed through official supporters’ clubs or loyalty schemes.

The European umbrella fan group has also accused the governing body of football of “monumental betrayal” by sidelining the interests of traveling supporters in favour of general public sales and dynamic pricing, going against World Cup tradition.

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As per the price tables distributed among national associations, a supporter following their national team from the first group match all the way to the final via the PMA route will have to shell out at least $6,900, nearly five times the equivalent cost during the previous edition in Qatar.

FIFA has also decided against having consistent prices across group-stage matches, opting to introduce variable pricing depending on the “attractiveness” of a fixture – which could have fans of different nationalities paying different amounts for the same ticket category at the same stage.

FIFA ‘putting the very nature of the tournament at risk’

As a result, it has urged the Gianni Infantino-led organisation to immediately halt the sale of national team ticket allocations with less than seven months to go for the 23rd edition of the World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

“For the prices that have been put up by FIFA, we’re a bit stunned,” FSE Executive Director Ronan Evain told Reuters.

“This is a handful of people who are trying to make as much money as possible from the tournament. And we believe this approach is putting the very nature of the tournament at risk.

“For the final, tickets are going up to about $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,” he said.

Football Supporters Association, a representative body for fans in England and Wales, have claimed that the PMA ticket prices are among the highest for former champions England in the upcoming tournament and have labeled it “disgraceful”.

“Prices for England’s matches have been set as some of the highest, priced at $7,020 if you want to follow the team from start through to the final.

“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,” read a statement from the FSA.

World Cup tickets exceeding average monthly wage in some nations

The situation gets worse when taking fans outside of Europe into account. For some of the smaller nations taking part in the tournament, the ticket prices are higher than the average monthly wage.

Haiti is among the nations that have qualified for the tournament that has been expanded to 48 teams from 32 starting next year. And the cheapest tickets for Haiti’s opening game against Scotland – its first World Cup fixture in 52 years – is set at $180, which exceeds the country’s average monthly income of $147.

It’s a similar story for Ghana, whose average monthly income stands at $254.

“It’s a bit of a disappointment for those who, for the last three-and-a-half years, have been trying to put some money away in the hope that they can have their first World Cup experience,” a Ghana supporter was quoted by the BBC as saying.

“Fifa themselves have gone ahead to increase the number of teams so a lot more smaller football nations will get a chance to have themselves and their fans represented. It’s been overshadowed by pricing those same fans out of a chance to watch their country play at the World Cup.

“I have a feeling that quite a number of people within the next couple of months, are going to drop out of that desire to be at the next World Cup. Sadly. So sadly,” added the Ghanaian.