{"id":85728,"date":"2025-12-12T17:13:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T17:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/85728\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T17:13:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T17:13:11","slug":"local-fans-outraged-at-2026-world-cups-inconceivable-and-extortionate-ticket-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/85728\/","title":{"rendered":"Local fans outraged at 2026 World Cup\u2019s \u2018inconceivable\u2019 and \u2018extortionate\u2019 ticket prices"},"content":{"rendered":"

The third phase of ticket sales for the 2026 World Cup opened Thursday<\/a>, and the prices immediately sparked outrage among fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat FIFA is doing is inconceivable,\u201d said Erik Vales, a Fort Worth resident who has attended the World Cups in Brazil (2014), Russia (2018), and Qatar (2022).<\/p>\n

Vales was stunned by the soaring costs in this latest sales window, which offered fans another chance to secure seats for the tournament set to take place next summer in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.<\/p>\n

AT&T Stadium in Arlington will host more matches than any other venue<\/a>, with nine games scheduled, including a semifinal.<\/p>\n

Sports Roundup<\/p>\n

Get the latest D-FW sports news, analysis and opinion delivered straight to your inbox. Plus, Kevin Sherrington’s A La Carte.<\/p>\n

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Last weekend\u2019s announcement of the groups, schedules and venues for all 104 matches only pushed ticket prices higher.<\/p>\n

FIFA has divided tickets into three categories:<\/p>\n

Category 1: lower bowl seating<\/p>\n

Category 2: middle tier<\/p>\n

Category 3: upper level<\/p>\n

For the first time, FIFA has introduced dynamic pricing, meaning ticket costs fluctuate based on demand for marquee matchups.<\/p>\n

At AT&T Stadium, where reigning world champion Argentina, led by Lionel Messi, will take the field<\/a>. FIFA has also set ticket prices for the marquee clash between England, ranked fourth in FIFA\u2019s standings, and Croatia, ranked 10th.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Tickets for Argentina vs. Austria (June 22), Argentina vs. Jordan (June 27), and England vs. Croatia are priced at $700 in Category 1, $500 in Category 2, and $265 in Category 3.<\/p>\n

The most expensive group-stage ticket currently listed is for the United States vs. Paraguay opener on June 12 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, priced at $2,735 in Category 1. <\/p>\n

The opening match of the tournament, Mexico vs. South Africa on June 11 at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, is listed at $2,355 for Category 1 seats.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s prices are insane,\u201d said Vales, who displayed a Category 1 ticket for which he paid $175 to attend the group-stage match between Mexico and Croatia at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.<\/p>\n

At the World Cup in Russia, he paid $210 for a Category 1 ticket, and at the Qatar World Cup, he paid $220 for a ticket in the same category.<\/p>\n

To attend the 2026 World Cup, fans can purchase individual tickets through FIFA\u2019s site if selected in a lottery. Otherwise, they must turn to hospitality packages, which cost thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n

On the secondary market, prices have skyrocketed even further.<\/p>\n

Resale tickets listed Thursday for Argentina vs. Austria at AT&T Stadium ranged from $1,697 in Category 1, $1,606 in Category 2, and $1,124 in Category 3. Some lower-bowl seats were listed for as much as $10,588.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dynamic pricing model is a game-changer. Before, you could buy tickets knowing the price wouldn\u2019t change regardless of which teams played. What FIFA is doing now, in my opinion, is price gouging, which is illegal in the United States,\u201d Vales said.<\/p>\n

Fan organization Football Supporters Europe (FSE) echoed those concerns, calling the current prices \u201cextortionate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup, ignoring the contribution of supporters to the spectacle it is,\u201d FSE said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The group-stage prices stand in stark contrast to FIFA\u2019s claims that $60 tickets would be available. U.S. soccer officials, when bidding for the tournament seven years ago, promised thousands of $21 seats during the opening phase of the tournament.<\/p>\n

The prices announced by FIFA on Thursday will remain fixed through Jan. 13, the deadline for fans to apply for tickets. <\/p>\n

After that, FIFA will randomly select applicants, charge them the listed prices, and distribute tickets in February. Those not chosen will receive rejection notices.<\/p>\n

Before Thursday\u2019s announcement, and even before the official World Cup draw, FIFA had already sold nearly 2 million tickets across two early lottery phases. <\/p>\n

In October, the organization set prices based on round and venue. By November, it had raised some of those prices in response to surging demand.<\/p>\n

Vales, a veteran fan who has traveled across three continents to watch World Cup matches, now wonders if he\u2019ll be able to attend the tournament being staged in his own backyard.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not asking for free tickets,\u201d he said. \u201cThe only thing we\u2019re asking FIFA for is fair prices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.<\/p>\n

Dallas released a year-end review detailing convention center progress. What to know<\/a>Hutchins family to open barbecue joint in Arlington soon<\/a><\/p>\n

Find more World Cup coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The third phase of ticket sales for the 2026 World Cup opened Thursday, and the prices immediately sparked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85729,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151,8079,2124,3692,29003],"class_list":{"0":"post-85728","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arlington","8":"tag-arlington","9":"tag-arlington-headlines","10":"tag-arlington-news","11":"tag-att-stadium","12":"tag-fc-dallas","13":"tag-world-cup","14":"tag-world-cup-2026"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}