Demand would be, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in January, equivalent to “1,000 years of World Cups at once.”ย But with just a month to go until the start of the 2026 World Cup, tickets remain unsold for most matches, and it’s unclear if any games have actually sold out.
“The way it looks to me, I would not be too concerned about the hype of the World Cup being sold out,”ย Gilad Zilberman, CEO of leading secondary market comparison site, SeatPick, told DW.
“I think prices will drop,” he added. “That’s my gut feeling. I think FIFA is struggling.”
While FIFA failed to reply to a series of questions from DW on demand and sales figures, a recent report from the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) backed up Zilberman’s analysis. It stated that nearly 80% of hotel bookings across host cities are running below initial forecasts. That was, the AHLA said, likely due to a lack of international travelers.
With visa difficulties, high air fares and other logistical challenges, the tournament is looking increasingly likely to be attended largely by fans from the host countries โ the US, Mexico and Canada โ who can afford to wait for the price drops predicted by Zilberman and others.
Dynamic pricing and secondary markets key to FIFA in 2026
For this year’s tournament, world football’s governors FIFA have introduced a form of dynamic pricing. The organization hasย said that they set the prices and adjust them according to demand, as opposed to the more common practice of using an algorithm. This has seen almost daily headlines about extortionate World Cup tickets.
Another new element of FIFA’s ticketing strategy this year is the introduction of its own secondary market, where those who won tickets in a series of ballots can resell their tickets at whatever price they can obtain, with FIFA taking a 15% cut from both buyer and seller. Recently, a ticket was listed there for $2,299,998.85 (about โฌ1.95 million) meaning $690,000 (โฌ585,000) for FIFA if it sells.
The most expensive face-value ticket for the final was $11,000.ย FIFA expects to gross $3 billion on ticketing and hospitality sales alone. Infantinoย defended his organization’s ticketing strategy last week.
“We are in the market in which entertainment is the most developed in the world. So we have to apply market rates,”ย Infantino said. “In the US it is permitted to resell tickets as well. So if you were to sell tickets at a price that is too low, these tickets will be resold at a much higher price.
“And as a matter of fact, even though some people are saying that the ticket prices we have are high, they still end up on the resale market at an even higher price, more than double of our price.”
Is the demand really there?
However, Zilberman says the market data disputes this. SeatPick tracks data from all the major resellers outside of FIFA’s platform, such as Viagogo and Stubhub. He told DW that, at the end of April, 72% of the matches where figures from FIFA and the secondary market are available, the secondary market came out cheaper. DW has tested this and found tickets from resellers to be cheaper in most cases, though assessing direct equivalents is not always possible.
Zilberman said he understands that FIFA would be “leaving money on the table”ย by adopting a cheaper, face-value strategy such as that employed by UEFA forย the Euros, but that they aren’t equipped to use the ticketing strategies they are.
“From previous history of dealing with these type of big tournaments, it often happens like it’s happened right now. They get stuck with a lot of tickets. Dynamic pricing is not FIFA’s expertise.”
He added that those seeking tickets were heading to the secondary markets because they reflect supply and demand. Ticket prices can fall for matches without much demand, unlike FIFA tickets, which are yet to drop in value.
“FIFA is basically doing dynamic pricing by themselves. And they’re trying to emulate what the pricing is on the secondary market and trying to compete and grab the most amount of the pie they can have for themselves.”
Fans urged to wait it out while doubts linger on 2030
FIFA released two separate tranches of tickets, styled as “last-minute sales”, in just over two weeks in April and May after what they had previously said was the final phase. This, said Zilberman, is proof that they are holding back tickets in order, presumably, to impact the market.
“It could be that they’re inefficient in technology, which wouldn’t surprise me, but I don’t think it’s that. It’s most likely that releasing in batches lets you get the spikes in demand on the day of release, see how the market reacts and utilize dynamic pricing. So, ‘how do I do the least damage to my perception with fans but at the same time maximize my profit?'”
A challenge has come to FIFA’s strategy from the Canadian province of Ontario, which passed legislation in late April banning the reselling of event tickets above face value. While there are some restrictions on secondary markets in Mexico, there are few in the US and Canada until Ontario’s move, which affects prices in Toronto, where resale tickets won’t be able to exceed face value. Football Supporters Europe and lobby group Euroconsumers also filed a complaint to the European Commission in late March over FIFA’s ticketing strategy for the tournament.
FIFA has not yet announced whether it will continue these strategies for theย next World Cup, to be held in Morocco, Portugal and Spain, but Zilberman thinks it will not be as easy next time around.
“I think they will try, but it’s not the same,”ย he said. “US platforms in terms of (the) second-hand market are very, very advanced and the consumer is quite acquainted to a price going to five times the value of the primary market release. In Spain, Morocco and Portugal, not so much.”
It certainly seems unlikely that 2030 will see tickets listed north of $2 million. Even if listed does not mean sold, Infantino has promised any potential buyer that most unusual thing at this World Cup โ a freebie: “If somebody buys a ticket for the final for $2 million I will personally bring him a hot dog and a Coke to make sure that he has a great experience.”
Edited by: Chuck Penfold