Football enthusiasts expressed strong disapproval last evening following the listing of a ticket for the 2026 World Cup semi-final at a staggering price of £161,000 on an official FIFA resale platform. With the highly anticipated tournament draw just days away, supporters were incensed by the revelation. Neal Weekes, a devoted England superfan, denounced the exorbitant prices, labeling them as scandalous and disgraceful.
As anticipation builds for the upcoming tournament draw scheduled for Friday, fans from England and Scotland are eagerly awaiting to discover their countries’ fate and the venues for their matches in the United States, Canada, and Mexico next summer. However, observers monitoring FIFA’s ticket resale platform have been taken aback by the exorbitant prices set. FIFA, the global governing body of football, operates an official ticket resale platform to regulate the secondary market, imposing a 15% fee on both sellers and buyers.
Currently, a single Category 2 ticket for the second semi-final in Atlanta on July 15 is priced at £161,000, excluding a ‘facilitation fee’ of £24,355, bringing the total cost to a substantial £185,485. Surprisingly, the first semi-final in Dallas a day earlier is available at a total cost of £34,029, surpassing even the prices for the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium near New York City.
Weekes criticized the situation further, highlighting the significant profit FIFA stands to gain if the ticket sells at such an inflated price. He emphasized the concerning trend in modern football, expressing disbelief that such prices are permitted on a FIFA platform. Weekes, along with his friend Fil Sollof, who is a property services owner, both in their sixties and seasoned World Cup attendees, are gearing up for their seventh World Cup experience together.
Looking ahead to next year’s World Cup matches, fans are bracing themselves for the high costs associated with attending the tournament. FIFA’s pricing strategy for the primary market has raised eyebrows, with ticket prices ranging from £45.37 in the group phase to a hefty £4,817 for the final. This marks a significant increase from the prices at the 2022 finals in Qatar. The upcoming tournament, featuring 48 teams for the first time, is set to take place in June and July, with the draw scheduled in Washington DC and expected to be attended by US President Donald Trump.
As England and Scotland await their match opponents, potential newcomers to the finals include Cape Verde, Uzbekistan, Jordan, or Curacao. Ticket prices for the 2026 final range from £1,535 to £5,089, with the cheapest ticket offering a more affordable option compared to the extravagant prices seen for the semi-finals. Reflecting on the past tournament in Qatar, where a Category 1 ticket for the final match cost £1,214, fans were treated to an exciting match between Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi that ended in a thrilling 3–3 draw before Argentina emerged victorious on penalties. FIFA was contacted for comments regarding the ticket pricing issue.