Supporters planning to travel to next year’s World Cup final are facing sharply increased costs, with the lowest-priced seats in the so-called supporter value tier starting at £3,119 ($4,185).
The scale of the rise has prompted strong criticism from Football Supporters Europe (FSE), which said it is “astonished” by what it describes as Fifa’s “extortionate” pricing policy.
Details of ticket prices for both group fixtures and the final began circulating on Thursday as FIFA briefed national associations on their allocations.
The cheapest available ticket for the tournament’s showpiece match is now nearly seven times more expensive than at the 2022 World Cup, where the lowest-priced option was £450.
Sources claim that supporter standard tier tickets will cost £4,162 ($5,560), compared with £747 three years ago, while the supporters premium tier is listed at £6,615 ($8,860), up from £1,197 at the Lusail Stadium.
FSE has called for an immediate halt to the ticketing process, arguing that the absence of any lower-cost category amounts to “a monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup, ignoring the contribution of supporters to the spectacle it is”.
The next ticket ballot opens on Thursday afternoon, with members of national supporters’ groups then able to apply on Monday for either individual matches or for a package that tracks their team through the tournament.
Roughly 4,000 tickets per match are distributed through these official groups, while the remainder are assigned via the general ballot, except those reserved by FIFA for corporate partners.
Stadium capacities range from 94,000 at the Dallas venue, where England will face Croatia, to 45,000 at Toronto Stadium. Unlike recent editions, FIFA has moved away from uniform pricing for group fixtures and is instead using a variable system based on the perceived appeal of each game.
In Qatar, group matches were priced at fixed levels of £68.50, £164.50 and £219. For England’s meeting with Croatia on 17 June, the new structure sets prices at £198, £373 and £523. Scotland’s opening two fixtures are lower by comparison, with the Haiti match costing £134, £298 or £372, and the Morocco game priced at £163, £320 or £447. Their third group match is aligned with the England v Croatia pricing.
As in 2022, there will be no category four tickets available to travelling supporters; previously, these seats were exclusively for Qatar residents. This time the limited number of category four tickets will appear only in the general sale and will be subject to dynamic pricing.
FSE calls for action
FSE has escalated its criticism, arguing that FIFA’s approach risks undermining what the organisation sees as the inclusive spirit of the tournament.
It said FIFA should “immediately halt PMA [Participating Member Association allocation] ticket sales, engage in a consultation with all impacted parties, and review ticket prices and category distribution until a solution that respects the tradition, universality, and cultural significance of the World Cup is found”.
It also highlighted concerns about the way price information has emerged. “In the price tables gradually and confidentially released by FIFA, tickets allocated to National Associations, which typically distribute them via official supporters’ groups or loyalty programmes to their most devoted fans, are reaching astronomical levels.
“National team supporters are expected to pay this full amount in early 2026 to have the opportunity to follow their team up to the final.
“Adding insult to injury, the lowest price category will not be available to the most dedicated supporters through their National Associations, as FIFA chose to reserve the scarce number of category four tickets to the general sales, subject to dynamic ticket pricing.
“For the first time in World Cup history, no consistent price will be offered across all group stage games.
Instead, FIFA is introducing a variable pricing policy dependent on vague criteria such as the perceived attractiveness of the fixture.
“Fans of different national teams will therefore have to pay different prices for the same category at the same stage of the tournament, without any transparency on the pricing structure enforced by FIFA.
“The bid document released in 2018 promised tickets priced as low as $21. Where are these tickets now? The full way to the final, according to the same bid book, was supposed to cost $2,242 in the cheapest category. This promise is long gone.”
