Outrage grows as FIFA faces calls to halt 2026 World Cup ticket sales over 'extortionate' prices
The FIFA World Cup trophy on display. The 2026 tournament will get underway on June 11 when co-host Mexico face 2010 hosts South Africa at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. The match will take place exactly 16 years after their historic encounter at Soccer City in Johannesburg.
Image: SAFA
Football fans who want to attend the 2026 World Cup opener between co-hosts Mexico and Bafana Bafana can now apply to purchase tickets via the official FIFA website. But be warned, they do not come cheap.
According to the website, the cheapest ticket for the encounter – a Category 3 – will set you back $1,020, roughly R17,200 when converted to the South African rand.
A Category 2 ticket will cost you $1,705 (R28,760), while you will need to fork out almost R40,000 for a Category 1 ticket.
The website then states you will only hear on February 6, 2026 if your application was successful. FIFA also gives you the option to accept a downgrade to a different ticket category if tickets in your originally selected price category are no longer available.
If you do not wish to wait until February 6 to book your spot, you can always go the resale route, where tickets range from R73,623 for nosebleed seats high up in Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca, to R1.3 million for seats closer to the action.
Or you could wait for FIFA’s own official resale marketplace to reopen on December 15. Back in 2010, when the exchange rate was R7.50 to the US dollar, you could secure the cheapest ticket for R150, while the best seats in the house went for around R1,200 – a stark contrast to today’s eye-watering prices.
Football Supporters Europe (FSE) have urged Fifa to immediately halt sales of national team allocations after accusing football's governing body of imposing "extortionate" ticket prices that most fans cannot afford.
“We call on FIFA to immediately halt PMA (Participating Member Association allocation) ticket sales, engage in a consultation with all impacted parties, and review ticket prices and category distribution until a solution that respects the tradition, universality, and cultural significance of the World Cup is found.”
With pressure mounting from supporter groups and frustration growing among ordinary fans, the debate over 2026 World Cup ticket prices is unlikely to die down soon. As FIFA faces calls to rethink its pricing strategy, millions around the world are left hoping the tournament’s spirit of inclusivity is not overshadowed by the cost of simply being there.
IOL Sport