Exorbitantly expensive tickets for early World Cup games still on general sale

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Tickets for most of the World Cup group games remain on general sale with just over a month to go until the tournament kicks off on June 11.

But prices are exorbitantly high, topping out at $4,105 for the United States’ opening game against Paraguay in Los Angeles, and many costing around $2,000.

Tickets are still available on FIFA’s official website through its “last-minute sales” section after batches had been released through various phases since September.

The cheapest tickets currently are $380 for seven different games, including World Cup debutant Curacao vs. Ivory Coast in Philadelphia.

Prices vary dependent on the category of ticket, with Front Category 1 the most expensive and Category 4 the cheapest. Yet a Category 3 ticket for USA vs. Paraguay is listed at $1,120 compared to a Category 2 ticket for Austria vs Jordan, which is $380.

Prices are also subject to change as FIFA adopts dynamic pricing for the first time at the World Cup.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in January the demand for tickets for this year’s tournament in the U.S., Canada and Mexico was the equivalent of “1,000 years of World Cups at once”, and all 104 matches would be sold out.

While only a handful of tickets remain for some games, fans willing and able to pay can still watch even the biggest nations such as defending champion Argentina, Brazil, Spain, France and England.

Tickets for Lionel Messi’s Argentina range from $2,475-$2,925. For Brazil it is $2,280-$2,310.

FIFA has been accused by fans of a “monumental betrayal” on ticket costs, but soccer’s governing body has repeatedly defended its pricing strategy.

“There are expensive tickets, yes, and there are also affordable tickets,” Infantino said Thursday in addressing the FIFA Congress in Vancouver, British Columbia. “And what is important is that all the revenues that we generate from the world go back to you, go back to the entire world and finance football in all of your countries, and you know it better than me, in big majority of our countries, we could not have organized football the way we know it without the grants and the revenues and the Forward program.”

Fans have been further angered by the addition of more expensive categories as the tournament approaches. Many of the tickets still on general sale are for the more expensive categories.

Tickets are also available via resale platforms including FIFA’s own marketplace and last month four seats for the World Cup final were listed at just under $2.3 million each. FIFA does not resell tickets or set prices on the platform, but can cash in for a second time by taking a 30% cut from any sale.

Cheapest group-stage tickets on general sale

Austria vs. Jordan, New Zealand vs. Egypt, Jordan vs. Algeria, Cape Verde vs. Saudi Arabia, Algeria vs. Austria, Congo DR vs. Uzbekistan and Curacao vs. Ivory Coast are all currently available for $380.

There are also a number of games with prices ranging from $400-$455.

Most expensive group-stage tickets on general sale

The USA’s opener against Paraguay on June 12 is the most expensive for the group games. While a number of tickets remain on general sale, the cheapest are $1,120 for Category 3.

Argentina vs. Austria ($2,925), Ecuador vs. Germany ($2,550), Uruguay vs. Spain ($2,520) and England vs. Croatia ($2,505) are also among the costliest.

Some games are sold out

A total of 17 group-stage games are sold out according to FIFA’s website, including the tournament opener between Mexico and South Africa in Mexico City on June 11.

Seven games staged in Mexico are sold out, including the co-host’s two other matches against South Korea in Guadalajara and Czech Republic in Mexico City.

Turkey vs. USA in Los Angeles, Brazil vs. Morocco in New York/New Jersey and Scotland vs. Brazil in Miami are among other games sold out.

Knockout stages

No tickets for the final are on general sale, but there is still the chance to book seats for semifinals if you have around $10,000 going spare.

A Front Category 1 ticket for the Atlanta semifinal is listed at $9,660. It’s even more for the Dallas semifinal, with an equivalent ticket priced at $11,130.

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AP Soccer Writer Anne M. Peterson contributed to this report.

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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer