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FIFA offers cheap World Cup tickets after fan backlash
AP • December 17th, 2025 8:25 am
All Whites celebrate qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup | Photo: Andrew Cornaga/Photosport
FIFA will slash the price of World Cup tickets for teams' most loyal fans following a global backlash and some will get $US60 ($NZ103) seats for the final instead of being asked to pay $US4,185 ($NZ7,236).
FIFA said Tuesday (Wednesday NZ time) that $US60 tickets will be made available for every game at the tournament in North America, going to the national federations whose teams are playing. Those federations will decide how to distribute them to loyal fans who have attended previous games at home and on the road.
The cheaper tickets, labelled "Supporter Entry Tier", will be ten per cent of the federation's allocation - which itself will vary depending on stadia size.
The decision follows meetings between senior officials in Doha this week, where federations are understood to have expressed concerns about the pricing model.
Fans worldwide reacted with shock and anger last week on seeing FIFA's ticketing plans that gave participating teams no tickets in the lowest-priced category.
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The co-hosts had pledged eight years ago — when they were bidding for the tournament — that hundreds of thousands of $US21 ($NZ36.30) tickets would be made available.
FIFA has also faced fierce criticism for a ticket pricing strategy that includes dynamic pricing, in which prices can increase due to demand, and acting as its own resale platform, taking a cut in the process.
When the original pricing was announced Football Supporters Association Australia chairman Patrick Clancy told AAP the prices were high but he thought many Soccerroos' fans would still buy them.
"These are historically high prices - even the minimums - and they're a lot more than what FIFA had had indicated early days," he said.
"I'm sure there will be some people who who choose not (to go), and that's absolutely fine, but I suspect the large majority will not be put off."
In their group Australia have drawn co-hosts the United States, Paraguay and either Turkey, Romania, Slovakia or Kosovo.
