World Cup 2026: FIFA announces that £45 tickets will be made available for next year's tournament including the final
FIFA announces new £45 ($60) tier for every match at World Cup 2026 after backlash; tickets will only be available through member associations and will represent 10 per cent of their allocation per game; cheapest ticket was previously £134
Tuesday 16 December 2025 19:57, UK
FIFA has mounted a major climbdown in the ongoing row about World Cup 2026 ticket prices by announcing a small number of fans will be able to pay just £45 ($60) for each game, including the final.
Following outcry from a number of national fan groups and accusations of a "betrayal" of supporters, FIFA has made a sudden and major departure from their initial pricing structure, which represented an increase across the board of almost 500 per cent compared to Qatar 2022.
Under that structure, the cheapest ticket available to either England or Scotland fans for the tournament would still cost £134, for Scotland's opening group game with Haiti, while England vs Croatia and Scotland vs Brazil would set fans back a minimum of £198.
The £45 tier will only be available through national federations, ensuring they end up in the hands of genuine supporters - and still only represent around 10 per cent of the allocation each association receives, and less than one per cent of overall capacity for each game.
There were initially no tickets available for the quarter-finals onwards priced at less than £500, with the cheapest ticket for the final coming in at over £3,000. Any fan following their team from the group stages to the final would have been required to fork out at least £5,000 for the privilege.
FIFA's climbdown follows meetings between senior officials in Doha this week, where federations - including the Football Association - are understood to have shared concerns about the pricing model. The initial feedback on the prices released last Thursday has been discussed regularly since the start of the weekend.
A FIFA official close to the discussions said: "Demand for tickets has been off the scale, more than 20 million requests so far in this latest phase. We have listened to feedback and this new category is the right thing to do.
"Making $60 (£45) tickets available to more fans, including the most loyal ones who travel, was agreed on unanimously. Associations will need to work out who best should receive them.
"It's a unique tournament and a unique market in the USA, in particular, which allows resales on secondary platforms.
"The demand is sky high. No organisation does more to support the development of the game around the world than FIFA. All 211 associations, including the poorest countries, will benefit from a commercially successful World Cup."
'The devil is in the detail - you can't just go out and buy these £45 tickets'
Sky Sports News chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol:
"There was a huge backlash last Thursday after FIFA announced the prices of tickets for World Cup games.
"The devil is in the detail. England's opening game against Croatia, in Dallas, will see the FA getting 6,400 tickets. Just 640 will be available for £45.
"Scotland's opening game against Haiti is being played in Boston. Scotland are getting 5,280 tickets for that game - so there'll be just 528 tickets at this new price.
"For the final at the MetLife Stadium, the competing associations will get about 6,600 tickets each. Each association will get around 660 tickets for £45.
"FIFA are saying to these associations to make sure these tickets go to the most loyal fans. It's up to each federation to distribute the tickets, but don't think anyone can just go and buy £45 tickets. It's quite a small number, and only available for the most loyal fans."
