Last week, FIFA delivered those assignments. It converted categorized tickets into specific rows and sections \u2014 and left many buyers disappointed with seats in corners, behind goals or farther away from the field<\/a>.<\/p>\n Then, a week later, FIFA began selling seats in the first several rows of lower-level sections for higher prices \u2014 in some cases double the price of a standard Category 1 ticket.<\/p>\n Frustrated fans, in interviews with and messages to The Athletic last week, suspected that FIFA had given them lesser seats so that it could sell the better ones at elevated prices. But at the time, they had no firm evidence.<\/p>\n The new category essentially confirms their suspicions.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is just another example of how deceptive the original maps were,\u201d one fan, Ben Kurzman, wrote in a Wednesday email. \u201c[FIFA] let people believe that by buying Category 1 seats, they might end up in a lower sideline section close to the field, when that was never going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n The new \u201cFront Category 1\u201d had not been previously advertised or mentioned. From an initial \u201cpresale\u201d phase in October through last week, the normal \u201cCategory 1\u201d had been sold as the top tier of ticket, with prices now ranging from $10,990 for the World Cup final to $450 for some group-stage games<\/a>. The maps shown to buyers suggested that these tickets could yield seats anywhere in any 100-level section or, at most stadiums, in mid-level sections with good views.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Separately, though, FIFA has been selling hospitality packages at even higher prices. And its hospitality \u201cseating example\u201d illustrations suggest that many of the lower-level sideline sections supposedly within Category 1 are actually being reserved for hospitality buyers.<\/p>\n Over the past week, as fans realized that hardly any Category 1 ticket holders had been placed in those coveted sideline sections, many fumed.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people feel misled, or confused, or maybe just generally let down about the way seats were assigned,\u201d Jordan Likover, one of the aggrieved fans, told The Athletic.<\/p>\n Then, on Wednesday, as The Athletic publicized the saga<\/a> and outrage spread<\/a>, FIFA went a step further.<\/p>\n It released new batches of tickets and, for at least 20 games, it listed these new \u201cFront Category 1\u201d and\/or \u201cFront Category 2\u201d seats in the first several rows of certain sections.<\/p>\n For Algeria vs. Austria at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., for example, dozens of seats in the second row at the four corners of the stadium were priced at $900 apiece \u2014 twice as much as a standard Category 1 ticket that, if bought this winter, seemingly should have been eligible for placement in those exact same rows and sections.<\/p>\n Listings were similar for other matches. For Canada\u2019s opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 12, a \u201cFront Category 1\u201d seat \u2014 in row 5 of a sideline section near the corner of Toronto\u2019s BMO Field \u2014 cost $3,360, up from $2,240 for a regular Category 1 ticket.<\/p>\n For U.S. vs. Paraguay at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles that same day, a \u201cFront Category 1\u201d seat in Row 7 of a corner section is $4,105 \u2014 up from the standard Category 1 price that has already turned off many avid fans<\/a>, $2,730.<\/p>\n For more than a dozen games, the \u201cFront Category 1\u201d price was exactly double the standard Category 1 price.<\/p>\n For Uruguay vs. Saudi Arabia in Miami, that meant an increase from $600 to $1,200 for a low seat behind one of the goals.<\/p>\n For Cape Verde vs. Saudi Arabia in Houston, Uzbekistan vs. the Democratic Republic of Congo in Atlanta, and other less-glamorous matchups, the \u201cFront\u201d price was $900, up from $450.<\/p>\n \u201cFront Category 2\u201d seats, at the front of less desirable sections, were also being offered at smaller mark-ups.<\/p>\n The Athletic asked FIFA on Wednesday why these \u201cfront\u201d seats weren\u2019t simply allocated to fans who\u2019d applied for Category 1 or 2 tickets in the \u201cRandom Selection Draw\u201d this winter \u2014 when FIFA supposedly received more than 500 million ticket requests<\/a>. At time of publication, FIFA has not responded.<\/p>\n It also has not said why the new category was created, nor why it was appropriate to previously advertise Category 1 as if it gave buyers a chance at any seat in any coveted section.<\/p>\n In an emailed statement Tuesday in response to another set of questions last week, a FIFA spokesperson said that the \u201cindicative category maps\u201d were \u201cto help fans understand where their seats could be located within a stadium. These maps were designed to provide guidance rather than the exact seat layout, and reflect the general extent of each ticket category within the stadium.\u201d<\/p>\n FIFA has not said how many of these \u201cfront\u201d seats it plans to sell, nor how many tickets generally are still available for the 2026 World Cup. It seems to be releasing new batches unannounced on a rolling basis.<\/p>\n Fans, in interviews late last week, blasted the governing body for its opacity and for other aspects of the ticketing process.<\/p>\n \u201cFIFA doesn\u2019t have any goodwill with fans,\u201d said Andrew Swart, a New York-based fan who said his Category 1 ticket \u2014 purchased for $862.50 on FIFA\u2019s resale site \u2014 had yielded him a seat in a section once earmarked for Category 2. \u201cOur default assumption is that they\u2019re doing something to be either underhanded or maximize profit.\u201d<\/p>\n FIFA has consistently defended its pricing and approach as a reflection of North American norms<\/a> and \u201cextraordinary\u201d demand<\/a>, and noted that, as a non-profit, it reinvests much of the World Cup\u2019s revenue in the development of soccer globally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FIFA has created a new category of 2026 World Cup tickets two months before the tournament in an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574182,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[103,113962,6090,93265,403,99,1794,47812],"class_list":{"0":"post-574181","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-canada","9":"tag-fifa-mens-world-cup","10":"tag-international-football","11":"tag-mexico-mens-national-team","12":"tag-soccer","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-sports-business","15":"tag-us-mens-national-team"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/FWC26_LA-1.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Hospitality](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/USA-Paraguay-Hospitality.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Algeria-Austria-scaled.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Austria-Jordan-scaled.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n