The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) faced some technical problems when resuming the sale of tickets for the 2026 World Cup on Wednesday, after the completion of the contract for the 48 teams participating in the tournament.
FIFA has not yet disclosed the details of the matches nor the available price categories. Some people wishing to buy have been directed to a waiting list called the “Last Minute Sale” with the process beginning at 11 a.m. EST. While others were directed to the “late stage of selling tickets for the qualifiers”, which is designated for a category of fans who support the six teams that recently qualified.
The sale saw long wait times, and some users had to wait in line for over 90 minutes without being able to complete their purchase.
FIFA did not explain the reason behind this disruption in the links, before later announcing that things would return to normal during the afternoon hours.
FIFA confirmed that the remaining tickets have not yet been fully released, which are tickets for the tournament’s matches, which will include 104 matches that will be held in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, during the period between June 11 and July 19, 2026, indicating that the tickets will be offered gradually.
This stage is considered the fifth stage of the sales process, after a series of previous stages that included special draws for Visa card holders in the month of September, an early withdrawal in the month of October, a random drawing between the months of December and January, in addition to an unscheduled 48-hour offer in the month of February.
This stage is distinguished by being the first that allows the purchase of a specific seat directly, instead of simply requesting a ticket within a general category.
FIFA relies on a dynamic pricing system, especially since the tournament will be held in 11 cities within the United States, 3 in Mexico, and 2 in Canada.
During the previous month-long sale phase following the December drawing, ticket prices ranged between $140 and $8,680.
After receiving complaints, FIFA announced the allocation of tickets at a price of $60 to each national federation, which is reserved for the most loyal fans, with an amount ranging between 400 and 700 tickets for each team for each match.
FIFA also provides a platform for reselling tickets, through which it receives 15% of the value of each sale, whether from the seller or the buyer.
The list of qualified teams included: Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Czech Republic, Iraq, Sweden, and Turkey.
On the other hand, fans of teams that were unable to qualify, such as: Italy, Poland, Denmark, Jamaica and Bolivia, may resort to reselling tickets that they had previously purchased.
(Arabic)
