The first ticket sale for this summer’s World Cup final has shown that FIFA is selling what is thought to be the most expensive general admission to a match in the history of football.
The ticketing has shown that FIFA are charging supporters up to $10,990 (£8,333) for the privilege of watching the tournament’s showpiece at the MetLife Stadium on Sunday, 19 July.
This price is a 38 per cent increase from the $8,680 (£6,581) that was advertised as the most expensive ticket during the members’ sale in December, when each country’s official supporters’ club were given early access.
The pricing system put in place by FIFA is variable, with the cost of tickets fluctuating based on demand, which remains high.
Wednesday night’s open sale for the final, and 17 of the 72 group matches, also disclosed that category two tickets had risen 32 percent to $7,380 (£5,596), and category three tickets were now priced at $5,785 (£4,386), a 38 percent increase.
The top three category prices are all substantially higher than the cost of the most expensive seat at the 2022 Qatar World Cup final, contested by Argentina and France, which was the equivalent of $1,604 (£1,214).
The £8,333 ticket is a massive hike on the $1,550 (£1,174) that was promised as the maximum price in the US, Canada and Mexico’s initial bid for the tournament.
The open sale was the final chance to buy directly from FIFA before the resale market opened on Thursday, but a major misstep by officials turned the process into chaos.
Supporters who logged on early Wednesday morning, hoping to snap up tickets for the games available, instead found themselves stuck in a line that led nowhere for over an hour.
By the time the error was fixed, many said it was already too late.
Instead of reaching the general sales portal, users were mistakenly funneled into a restricted section reserved for official national-team supporter groups – known as Participating Member Associations (PMAs) – which requires special access codes.
Ordinary fans without the code had to rejoin the main queue, way behind where they would have been. Fans also reported online that it took FIFA up to 10 minutes to fix the website and redirect users to the correct ticket link.
The latest gaffe comes four months after FIFA was criticised for their ticket pricing, initially marketing tickets at $140 to $8,680 following the World Cup draw. However, following backlash, they released a new cut-price offer.
World football’s governing body guaranteed an unspecified number of tickets, thought to be around 10 per cent of the overall allocation handed to each nation taking part, at a cost of £45.
In England’s case, the tickets – which will be available for all games – will go to members of the official supporters’ club.
