Having access to tickets for the 2026 Soccer World Cup is already akin to climbing Everest. However, now that they have reached the summit, soccer fans are not at the end of their troubles.
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Exorbitant ticket prices, in Canada as in the two other host countries, appear to be a “gigantic betrayal” on the part of FIFA by the Football Supporters Europe (FSE) association.
In Toronto on June 12, for Canada’s first ever match against a UEFA play-off qualifier, tickets range from a minimum of $1,300 CAN to a maximum of $3,000.
For the final, prices go from $5,800 to nearly $12,000, according to the list published by The Athletic.
It’s a little lower for other matches in Canada, such as the clash between Qatar and the Reds in Vancouver on June 18: entry prices vary between $365 to $960.
Throughout the group stage, the cheapest tickets retail at $192. This is the case of the Ghana-Panama match at BMO Field in Toronto on June 17, for example.
Now, you still need to have access to these tickets. The aforementioned prizes were revealed after the opening of the new phase of the ticket lottery on Thursday. They are notably the result of dynamic pricing, implemented for the first time at the FIFA World Cup.
After last Friday’s draw, fans were finally able to buy tickets for specific matches. High-calibre matches, like England-Croatia or Morocco-Brazil, for example, have seen their prices skyrocket. According to data from The Athletic, prices for 80 out of 104 matches increased. In some cases, we saw an increase of 71%. On the other side of the spectrum, prices for 11 other duels have been reduced.
Current prices will remain stable until January 13, a window during which fans can register to hope to be drawn into another of these famous ticket allocation draws, which will be the third of its kind since September.
Everest, they said.
“Five times” more expensive than in Qatar
The process of allocating tickets offered to members of the team federations participating in the World Cup also opened on Thursday.
For example, Canada Soccer was granted 8% of tickets for matches involving Canada, through the Participating Member Association (PMA).
For BMO Field, currently renovated to accommodate 45,736 fans next summer, that is equivalent to 3,658 Canadian fans who are members of the federation. For BC Place in Vancouver, which will accommodate 54,000, that is equivalent to 4,320 Reds fans. Canadians can still attend via the other systems set up by FIFA, if they manage to obtain tickets.
PHOTO DARRYL DYCK, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Vancouver’s BC Place
Obviously, the prizes allocated to the PMAs do not please the fans. According to FSE, these “astronomical prices […] imposed by FIFA on the most loyal supporters” are an aberration.
The association asks FIFA to “immediately suspend sales of PMA tickets”, to “initiate a consultation” and “to review ticket prices” until “a solution is found that respects the tradition, universality and cultural significance of the World Cup”.
According to information from FSE, which claims to have seen “the price lists published gradually and confidentially by FIFA”, following your team from the first match to the final “would cost at least US$6,900 (CAN$9,500)” to a supporter, “nearly five times more than during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar”.
« Pour [comble d’insulte]continued the supporters association, the lowest price category will not be accessible” to PMA tickets, because these places will be reserved “for general sale, subject to dynamic pricing. This is a gigantic betrayal of World Cup tradition, which ignores the fans’ contribution to the spectacle,” concluded FSE.
The application published in 2018 promised tickets starting at US$21 ($29 CAN). “Where are these tickets today?” », asked the association.
With Agence France-Presse
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