 The World Cup trophy sits on a podium in the course of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Remaining Draw at John F. Kennedy Heart for the Performing Arts on December 5, 2025. — Reuters
PARIS: World Cup organisers unveiled a brand new cut-price ticket class on Tuesday after a backlash by followers over pricing for the 2026 match in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Soccer’s international governing physique FIFA mentioned in a press release that it had created a restricted variety of “Supporter Entry Tier” mounted at $60 for all 104 matches, together with the ultimate.
It mentioned the plan was “designed to further support travelling fans following their national teams across the tournament”.
FIFA mentioned that the $60 (€51) tickets could be reserved for followers of certified groups and would make up 10% of every nationwide federation´s allotment.
Fan group Soccer Supporters Europe (FSE), which final week known as costs “extortionate” and “astronomical”, responded by saying FIFA was providing too little.
“While we welcome FIFA’s seeming recognition of the damage its original plans were to cause, the revisions do not go far enough,” FSE mentioned in a press release on Tuesday.
Final week, FSE mentioned ticket costs had been virtually 5 instances greater than in 2022 in Qatar, describing FIFA´s pricing for 2026 as a “monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup”.
“If a supporter were to follow their team from the first match to the final it would cost them a minimum of $6,900,” it mentioned on the time, including that World Cup organisers had promised tickets priced from $21 in a bid doc launched in 2018.
Appeasement
On Tuesday, FSE mentioned FIFA’s partial ticketing U-turn uncovered flaws in how costs for subsequent 12 months’s match had been set.
“For the moment, we are looking at the FIFA announcement as nothing more than an appeasement tactic due to the global negative backlash,” FSE mentioned.
“This shows that FIFA´s ticketing policy is not set in stone, was decided in a rush, and without proper consultation — including with FIFA’s own member associations.
“Based mostly on the allocations publicly accessible, this is able to imply that at finest a couple of hundred followers per match and staff could be fortunate sufficient to benefit from the 60 US greenback costs, whereas the overwhelming majority would nonetheless should pay extortionate costs, approach greater than at any match earlier than.”
The organisation also criticised the failure to make provisions for supporters with disabilities or their companions.
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer echoed FSE, stating that FIFA’s cheaper ticket category did not go far enough.
“I welcome FIFA’s announcement of some decrease priced supporters tickets,” Starmer wrote on X.
“However as somebody who used to save lots of up for England tickets, I encourage FIFA to do extra to make tickets extra inexpensive in order that the World Cup would not lose contact with the real supporters who make the sport so particular.”
Asserting the $60 tickets on Tuesday, FIFA mentioned that nationwide federations “are requested to ensure that these tickets are specifically allocated to loyal fans who are closely connected to their national teams”.
FIFA additionally mentioned that if followers purchased tickets for video games within the knockout rounds solely to seek out their staff eradicated at an earlier stage, they “will have the administrative fee waived when refunds are processed.”
It added that it was making the announcement “amid extraordinary global demand for tickets” with 20 million requests already submitted.
The draw for tickets of all costs within the first spherical of gross sales will happen on Tuesday, January 13.
