MIAMI — Soccer fans are already counting down the days and circling their calendars. This summer, FIFA will stage its largest-ever World Cup in North America, with 48 soccer teams playing in 16 cities across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
But despite blockbuster anticipation, there’s one looming question: Can fans afford to attend the games?
Many potential buyers online have expressed shock and outrage over the global tournament’s ticket prices, raising fears that some of the beautiful game’s most die-hard supporters will be priced out of the sport’s marquee event.
In the latest World Cup ticketing phase, known as the Random Selection Draw, some group stage seats cost as much as $700. Most World Cup final tickets were listed for thousands of dollars. Facing backlash, FIFA added a limited number of $60 tickets for each match. But that hasn’t allayed concerns of fans — including the likes of the United Kingdom’s prime minister.
“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,” Keir Starmer wrote on X last month.
The $700 price tag is for tickets sold at face value, mind you, not on the secondary market. On resale markets, ticket prices are soaring much higher.
“Those primary market prices are already, by far, the most expensive in World Cup history,” Henry Bushnell, a senior writer for The Athletic, said in an interview.
Steep prices may not shock Americans seeking entertainment. But in other countries, soccer is seen as key to communities’ cultural fabric. The idea of exorbitant costs, even for top matchups, doesn’t sit well with much of the global soccer community.
“You have to re-mortgage, get loans,” England fan Jo McNicol told NBC News. “Nobody has that sort of spare money for one match.”
McNicol said she has booked plane tickets and an RV for a countrywide road trip this summer. But she can’t find World Cup tickets at a price she’s willing to pay.
McNicol also uses a wheelchair. She attended the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar and said her accessibility ticket came with a companion ticket for no added cost. But not this year.
“It’s just been unfair,” she said of FIFA’s process.
In response to NBC News’ questions, FIFA didn’t comment on the record about accessibility.
On general ticketing concerns, FIFA wrote, in part, that the World Cup’s pricing model “reflects the existing market practice for major entertainment and sporting events within our hosts on a daily basis, soccer included. This is also a reflection of the treatment of the secondary market for tickets, which has a distinct legal treatment than in many other parts of the world. We are focused on ensuring fair access to our game for existing but also prospective fans.”
Even if fans are willing to shell out big money, some are concerned about physically getting into the U.S. as the Trump administration cracks down on visa applications from countries like Iran, Senegal and Haiti — all of which have teams in the tournament.
With U.S. immigration policy consistently under scrutiny, the government and FIFA have unveiled a priority visa program for World Cup ticket holders known as FIFA PASS. The program will allow purchasers to get expedited visa appointments.
Gianni Infantino, the president of soccer’s global governing body, promises “this will be the greatest and most inclusive FIFA World Cup in history,” FIFA said in a news release.
Foreign fans’ obstacles aside, Americans also face challenges.
Brian Hexsel, president of the American Outlaws, a major U.S. Soccer supporters group, called the ticket prices “absolutely insane.”
“My biggest fear is that FIFA has actually stopped the growing of the sport in the U.S.” Hexsel said.
But even if there are fewer face-painted, banner-waving, drum-beating die-hards in the stands, the seats are still expected to be full. According to FIFA on Wednesday, more than 500 million ticket requests were made during the Random Selection Draw.
“Americans love things that are big and spectacular,” Bushnell said, “and that’s what FIFA is trying to make this World Cup.”
