FIFA president Gianni Infantino has defended World Cup ticket prices, insisting that football’s global governing body was obliged to take advantage of US laws that allow tickets to be resold for thousands of dollars above face value.
FIFA has faced searing criticism over the cost of World Cup tickets, with fan organisation Football Supporters Europe branding the pricing structure “extortionate” and a “monumental betrayal.” The group filed a lawsuit with the European Commission in March targeting FIFA over the issue.
FIFA’s own World Cup resale website, FIFA Marketplace, last week advertised four tickets to the July 19 final in New York at a cost of more than $2 million each.
Speaking at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, Infantino said the eye-watering prices reflected demand to watch the World Cup.
“If some people put on the resale market some tickets for the final at $2 million, number one it doesn’t mean that the tickets cost $2 million,” Infantino said.
“Number two it doesn’t mean that somebody will buy these tickets. And 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.”
Fan groups have contrasted the price difference between this summer’s tournament and the Qatar World Cup in 2022. The most expensive ticket for the final in 2022 was around $1,600 at face value, while in 2026 the most expensive ticket for the final is about $11,000 at its original price.
Infantino was adamant that the steep increase in face-value prices was justified.
“We have to look at the market — we are in the market in which entertainment is the most developed in the world. So we have to apply market rates,” he said.
Infantino added that FIFA received in excess of 500 million ticket requests for 2026, compared with fewer than 50 million combined for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, and noted that 25 percent of tickets for the group phase were priced at under $300.
“You cannot go to watch in the US a college game, not even speaking about a top professional game of a certain level, for less than $300. And this is the World Cup,” he said.
