Football’s world governing body FIFA has come under investigation by several authorities in the United States over the ticket-pricing practices behind the 2026 World Cup, already the most expensive in the tournament’s history.
European supporters’ organisations have been among the fiercest critics of a scheme that has priced many ordinary fans out of the competition.
New York Attorney General Letitia James and New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport subpoenaed FIFA on May 27 for documents on how it sold tickets to the eight matches at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Those fixtures include the final on July 19.
Davenport said FIFA had turned buying a ticket into “a gauntlet of confusion, fake scarcity, and impossibly high prices”.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has since opened his own inquiry, and California has requested information from the organisation over a possible breach of state law.
Prices for the three main ticket categories rose by an average of 34 per cent between October 2025 and April 2026, according to figures cited by the two attorneys general. Tickets for matches at MetLife have averaged around $2,800 (€2,540).
It is the first World Cup at which FIFA has used so-called dynamic pricing, which adjusts costs in real time according to demand. Fans have also complained of paying for seats in premium areas, only to be moved to less desirable locations after the organisers redrew stadium maps.
FIFA raised prices for most of the 104 matches over the winter, with the costliest seats advertised at around $30,000 (€27,270).
Football Supporters Europe, a continent-wide fans’ network, has condemned the prices as exorbitant. England’s Fans’ Embassy estimated that following the national team to the final could cost a supporter at least £2,364 (€2,780), more than double the equivalent figure for the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
The row has fed wider unease in Europe about the commercialisation of the game, with critics arguing that football’s flagship event is being placed beyond the reach of the working-class supporters who built it.
In New York, mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has urged FIFA to abandon dynamic pricing and cap resale prices.
FIFA has defended its model, with President Gianni Infantino saying the prices reflected the North American market.
The tournament, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, is due to begin on June 11.
