Football: 2026 World Cup Tickets on Sale
By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw
It has been reported that five million requests for tickets for the 2026 Men’s World Cup, which takes place in the United States, Canada and Mexico from11 June to 19 July, have been submitted since the latest ticketing phase opened on 11 December 2025, notwithstanding criticism regarding the cost of them.
In fact, the Football Supporters' Association (FSA) has called the increased cost of tickets as being "scandalous".
The FSA has joined forces with the Football Supporters Europe in demanding that the sales process be halted, to enable fans' groups to hold talks with FIFA, the World Governing Body of Association Football, regarding its pricing policy.
Group-stage tickets are costing up to three times the prices of those for Qatar in 2022, whilst the cheapest ticket for the final will cost £3,119 (around €3,551), seven times more expensive than in Qatar in 2022.
There are no concessions on any of the tickets for children or other groups.
The FSA has stated:
"We back Football Supporters Europe in calling for a halt in ticket sales and we are calling on the Football Association to work with fellow FAs to directly challenge these disgraceful prices."
And has added:
"We call on all national associations to stand up for your supporters, without whom there would be no professional game."
According to FIFA, the most requests for tickets have come from the three host nations, followed by Colombia, England, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Scotland, Germany, Australia, France and Panama.
So far, Colombia v Portugal has been the most popular match, followed by Brazil v Morocco, Mexico v South Korea, Ecuador v Germany, and Scotland v Brazil.
Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw may be contacted by e-mail at ‘
