April 4, 2026

FIFA raised its top ticket price for the World Cup final to $10,990 during the glitch-hampered reopening of sales this week after the 48-team field for this year’s tournament was finalized. When FIFA sold tickets after the tournament draw in December, the price was $8,680, the AP reports. Category 2 tickets for the July 19 game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, were $7,380, up from $5,575, and category 3 cost $5,785, an increase from $4,185. Tickets were listed for 17 of the 72 group-stage matches by Wednesday night and none of the knockout stage games.

Soccer’s governing body is using dynamic pricing for the tournament, which will be played in 11 US cities, plus three in Mexico and two in Canada. Only $2,735 tickets, the highest-priced seats, were available by Wednesday evening for the US opener on June 12 against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California…

In a bold move that says “We love our fans, as long as their wallets are weightlifting,” FIFA has masterfully rebooted its World Cup ticket sales with a glitchy website experience that would make even the DMV proud. Prices have soared to stratospheric heights, because why just watch soccer when you can also admire your own financial acrobatics? With top-tier tickets now nearly $11,000—up from a modest $8,680 in December—FIFA is clearly embracing dynamic pricing the way a gas station embraces a spike in crude oil: mercilessly and unapologetically. Meanwhile, the mystery meat strategy of drip-feeding tickets to fans who must hunt on a site slower than a narcoleptic sloth ensures only the most patient (and wealthy) will join the global party. So grab your binoculars and your platinum card; FIFA’s World Cup is less about the beautiful game and more about the beautiful game of stretching a fan’s patience and credit limit.

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