World Cup tickets: 2026 USA tournament prices, visas and security explained

Last week the first batch of tickets for next summer’s matches went on sale, with more than 4.5 million fans entering a draw for a chance to buy them.

Immediately, Fifa’s approach to pricing drew significant backlash.

Fifa has not formally revealed a full price list, but they are being listed online by fans who were successful in the draw after spending hours in digital queues last week.

General admission tickets are being split into four categories, with those for the first match in the USA costing between $560 (£417) and $2,235 (£1,662). At the last World Cup in Qatar, the opening match was priced between $55 (£41) and $618 (£460).

The cheapest ticket for the 2026 final costs $2,030 (£1,510), and the most expensive is $6,000 (£4,462). Hospitality tickets, meanwhile, are yet to go on sale but will almost certainly be priced significantly higher.

Some tickets for matches early in the tournament – in a few of the less prestigious locations – are available for $60 (£44), but stadium map images show they are a tiny proportion of available seats.

The Athletic also reports, external that Fifa will also implement 15% charges on both the buyer and seller of tickets resold via its official platform.

Fifa did not respond to questions put forward by the BBC.

“These prices are astonishing – $2,030 for the cheapest final ticket is unacceptable,” said Thomas Concannon, who leads the Football Supporters Association’s England Fans’ Embassy.

“If fans are successful in obtaining a category four ticket from the first game to the last, that could set them back $3,180 (£2,363) at least. That is more than double what Qatar cost.

“Combined with travel and accommodation, this will be the most expensive World Cup for match-going fans we’ve ever seen by some distance.”

Fifa is also adopting a ‘dynamic’ pricing model for the tournament, meaning ticket prices for matches deemed high demand could be raised significantly during later sales periods.

The system has the potential to benefit Americans while locking out foreign fans.

“Dynamic pricing has really been a thing here for more than a decade,” said Scott Friedman, found of the Ticket Talk Network in the USA. “For Fifa, it’s supply and demand – they are trying to maximise their revenue.

“The system gives an advantage to American citizens who can maybe buy a resale ticket for a game which has less demand at much less than face value 48 hours before a match.

“People can’t really travel from overseas to do that. The system is not fair for the rest of the world and could definitely price out people from other countries.”