New Delhi: FIFA has added new and even more expensive categories of tickets for the 2026 World Cup, which will begin on June 11 in the USA, Mexico and Canada. The global football governing body is asking up to $4,105 for a front category 1 seat in the USA’s opening match against Paraguay in Inglewood, California, on June 12.
Last week, FIFA had asked for a top price of $2,735 for category 1 tickets for the game, but has included new front category pricing. The global football body also added a new front category 2 tier to its ticket sales website for the 48-team tournament, without any public announcement.
FIFA has asked $1,940 to $2,330 for those tickets to the USA opener. The new categories were first reported by The Athletic on Thursday. Earlier, the world football body, in its “tickets products and categories” information on September 9, had called category 1 “the highest priced seats, which are located primarily in the lower tier, but it looked like it had withheld some seats.
The category 2 is labelled as “positioned outside of category 1 areas, available in both lower and upper tiers.” FIFA also added seats at up to $3,360 in the front category 1 for Canada’s tournament opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 12 in Toronto. For the round of 16 matches, the global football body has added $905 seats in Philadelphia.
FIFA has increased its top ticket price for the World Cup final to $10,990 last week during the glitch-hampered reopening of sales. Earlier, the tickets for the final tickets were sold for $8,680 after the draw in December. The prices for FIFA’s category 2 tickets for the July 19 final match at MetLife Stadium have been increased from $5,575 to $7,380, and category 3 tickets cost $5,785, which is an increase from $4,185.
Football fans in shock as FIFA adds new more expensive ticket categories
A massive scam by FIFA; but not hard to believe
— Jeff (@Jeff69533653) April 9, 2026
Since the new set of tickets from FIFA Last Minute Sales phase were released yesterday ~54% of group stage games are showing categories that do not align with the updated stadium diagram. In most cases, cheaper categories are now moving into sections that were a higher value. 👇
— AP Soccer (@AP_Soccer_) April 10, 2026
This story is unbelievable. FIFA changed the ticket maps to make everyone’s seats worse months after tickets were purchased with no recourse. I’ve seen some sports scams in my day but no one is doing it like FIFA. Generational. I’ll probably just check it out on TV 👍. https://t.co/9ErgQzJH2h
— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) April 8, 2026
FIFA literally scammed all the football fans.. 😂it has now created an extra ticket category to sell “front” row World Cup seats for double the price of Category 1 tickets..i mean wth.. and fans will buy all the tickets bcz tournament happens in once in four years.. #FIFAworldcup
— Deepak Kumar (@chhote_pandit7) April 10, 2026
$11,000 for a World Cup final ticket 😭
at this point just buy a club and watch from the bench 💀
football is no longer for fans, it’s for billionaires.— AGENT 49🚩 (@UtdZaa) April 6, 2026
Mexico will face South Africa in the opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on June 11.