April 2 – The ‘last-minute sales phase’ for the 2026 FIFA World Cup got off to a chaotic start when the links FIFA published sent buyers straight into a queue that had nothing to do with them.
People who logged on at 11 am EST, ready to finally secure a seat, found themselves in line for the “PMA late qualifier supporters sales phase,” a completely separate window intended for fans of the six nations who only clinched their berths the day before.
Ninety minutes later, some were still in that queue without any explanation. FIFA eventually acknowledged, around noon, that the links were now working properly. What it didn’t offer was an apology or any particular urgency about the time it had wasted for its own customers.
This is the fifth phase of ticket sales for the tournament for the United States, Mexico and Canada. The first four: a Visa presale draw in September, an early ticket draw in October, a random selection process running from December into January, and an unscheduled 48-hour window that appeared in late February without fanfare.
The latest phase is the first time buyers could actually choose a specific seat rather than apply for a category and hope.
Then there’s the pricing. FIFA is using dynamic pricing, leading members of the United States Congress to write in a March letter to the world governing body, “The employment of dynamic ticket pricing for the 2026 World Cup starkly contrasts with FIFA’s core mission to promote the accessible and inclusive promotion and development of soccer globally.
“The consequences of dynamic pricing will make the 2026 World Cup the most financially exclusionary and inaccessible to date.”
FIFA also operates its own resale market, taking 15% from both buyer and seller. Infantino has defended the cut as a legal commercial activity under U.S. law, which it is. Whether it sits comfortably with running a not-for-profit organisation that answers to the world game is a different question.
In January, Infantino boasted that the volume of ticket requests was equivalent to “the request for 1,000 years of World Cups at once.”
“This is unique,” he said. “It’s incredible.”
He is not wrong about the demand. But extraordinary demand handled with broken links, misdirected queues, and ninety-minute waits is not something to be proud of. It is something to fix. The largest World Cup in history deserves better than this. So do the fans, trying to be part of it.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at [email protected]