Supporters of football have filed a lawsuit against FIFA, alleging that the organization is charging excessive ticket prices for the upcoming 2026 World Cup, set to take place in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The case was filed on Tuesday with the European Commission by the Football Supporters Europe (FSE) and the Euroconsumers group.
The supporters’ groups argue that FIFA has abused its monopoly on ticket sales, imposing opaque and unfair purchasing conditions. According to the FSE, the prices for the World Cup final have surged dramatically compared to the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
The cheapest tickets for the 2026 final are reportedly $4,185, more than seven times higher than the cheapest tickets for the 2022 final.
In comparison, the UEFA Euro 2024 final tickets start at just €95 ($100).
The FSE highlighted that FIFA’s bid documents projected an average ticket price of $1,408, but actual prices have far exceeded this estimate.
FIFA has defended the high prices as a result of dynamic pricing, particularly in the United States, where ticket costs fluctuate based on demand. FIFA President Gianni Infantino stated, “In the US in particular, there is this thing called dynamic pricing, meaning the prices will go up or down depending on the match.”
However, the FSE criticized this approach, arguing that there is no cap on price increases and no transparency in how tickets are priced. Some tickets for the final on FIFA’s resale platform have reportedly been listed for $143,750, over 41 times the original face value of $3,450.
FIFA introduced a Category 4 ticket option priced at $60, but these were reserved for fans of qualified teams and accounted for only 10% of each national federation’s allocation. Many of these lower-cost tickets sold out before general public sales began.