Football World Cup 2026 – governing body implements controversial pricing scheme.

Sept 2025 : Ticket prices for next year’s World Cup will range initially from US$60 for group matches to US$6,730 for the final, but could change as football’s top event adopts dynamic pricing for the first time.

As announced, the prices are up from a range of US$25 to US$475 for the 1994 tournament in the United States and for the US dollar equivalent of US$69 to US$1,607 when ticket details were announced for the 2022 tournament in Qatar.

Falk Eller, Fifa’s director of ticketing and hospitality, said there would be “approximately 1 million tickets available”, and prices would vary based on market demand. Dynamic pricing is commonly seen in airline ticket prices and hotel room rates during holiday seasons. Yet it led to complaints from fans of British band Oasis who waited in long queues to get their hands on tickets for this year’s reunion shows only to find that prices had increased considerably as part of a “dynamic pricing” scheme.

“I think the message is ‘Get your tickets early,’ especially if you know where you will be, because you live in that city, or you’re a fan of the three hosting nations, and then you know already when and where they will play”, Heimo Schirgi, the tournament’s chief operating officer, said.

The 2026 men’s FIFA World Cup will be the biggest in the tournament’s history. An expanded World Cup will feature 48 teams which is 16 more than in Qatar 2022, and would be played across three host nations for the first time from June 11 to July 19, 2026.

2026 World Cup venues – host cities and stadiums –

USA:

Dallas Stadium – Arlington, Texas (capacity 94,000);
New York New Jersey Stadium – East Rutherford, New Jersey (capacity 82,500);
Atlanta Stadium – Atlanta, Georgia (capacity 75,000);
Kansas City Stadium – Kansas City, Missouri (73,000);
Houston Stadium – Houston, Texas (capacity 72,000);
San Francisco Bay Area Stadium – Santa Clara, California (71,000);
Los Angeles Stadium – Inglewood, California (70,000);
Philadelphia Stadium – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (69,000);
Seattle Stadium – Seattle, Washington (capacity 69,000);
Boston Stadium – Foxborough, Massachusetts (65,000);
Miami Stadium – Miami Gardens, Florida (capacity 65,000).

Canada

Toronto Stadium – Toronto (capacity: 45,000);
BC Place Vancouver – Vancouver (capacity 54,000).

Mexico

Estadio Azteca Mexico City – Mexico City (capacity 83,000);
Estadio Monterrey – Guadalupe (capacity 53,500);
Estadio Guadalajara – Zapopan (capacity 48,000).

Format for the World Cup 2026 –

There will be 104 matches, 40 more than in Qatar. As a consequence, the knockout stage will start will a round of 32. The previous format of 32 teams in eight groups has been replaced by one featuring 12 groups of four. The top two teams in each group, plus the eight best third-placed teams, will advance to the round of 32.

• Nations from UEFA, CONMEBOL – the South American section – CONCACAF (North, Central and Caribbean), AFC (Asian Football Confederation), OFC (Oceania Football Confederation) and CAF (Confederation of African Football) will all stage their own qualifying campaigns.

• Finalist slots are divided as follows: AFC (8), CAF (9), CONCACAF (6), CONMEBOL (6), OFC (1), UEFA (16).

• Qualifying from Oceania concludes in March 2025, while CONMEBOL – featuring Brazil and holders Argentina – will finish in September 2025.

• The CAF and CONCACAF finalists will be confirmed in November 2025, with UEFA’s European qualifiers concluding in March 2026.

• Two final slots will be filled through an inter-confederation play-off.

• A tournament involving six teams will take place in March 2026: one team per confederation apart from UEFA – plus one additional team from the confederation of the host countries.

Team Maverick