October 5 – FIFA’s ticket resale platform for the 2026 World Cup has sparked outrage after launching with the most expensive prices in the history of the tournament. Some tickets have already been listed for tens of thousands of dollars, far beyond the reach of ordinary fans.
Unlike past tournaments, FIFA has scrapped its resale caps and will now take a 15% cut from both buyers and sellers.
The math is simple and advantageous to the governing body. If a $1,000 ticket is resold, the seller pockets $850 while FIFA walks away with $300…$150 from each side. In short, the governing body will collect an extra $30 for every $100 traded on its platform.
FIFA claims this aligns with “industry trends” and ensures “secure access” to fans. Critics, however, see something more cynical, namely, the commercialization of passion.
Zohran Mamdani, a New York politician, ardent supporter and favourite to become the new Mayor of New York City, branded the move “yet another method of gatekeeping the game,” launching a Game Over Greed campaign urging FIFA to reinstate price caps.
The English Football Supporters’ Association called the prices “astonishing” and “unacceptable”, while Ronan Evain of Fans Europe accused FIFA of turning the tournament into “a World Cup for middle-class westerners and the happy few from the rest of the world.”
He didn’t stop there. “This is not ‘making football truly global,’” he said. “This is the privatisation of what was once a tournament open to all. The life, the colours, the diversity…none of this exists when you set such prices.”
A Category 4 ticket for the U.S. opener at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, originally priced at $560, is already being listed for nearly $3,000. The same ticket for the final? Get ready to mortgage your house as it’ll set you back a cool $25,000.
In 2026, there hopefully will still be a spectacle of some sort, but without the beating heart of the real supporters who bring rhythm, song, and spirit, the world’s game risks feeling like a corporate exhibition, without the colour and noise.
If the terraces fall silent beneath the North American sun, it won’t be because the fans have lost their voice, it’s because only they’ve been priced out of the conversation.
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