Soccer fans are left dissatisfied after recent attempts to get tickets to this summer’s World Cup in America
Fans remain dissatisfied with FIFA’s World Cup ticket sales process.
Soccer fans are left dissatisfied with the latest attempt to buy tickets for this summer’s World Cup after FIFA raised prices again. Football’s governing body has already come under fire for introducing dynamic pricing this summer, with the latest ‘last minute sales phase’ leaving fans facing some issues.
Fans have had to endure long waits and technical glitches, with Category 1 tickets for the final currently costing more than $10,000 (£7,567). The latest sales phase marks the first time that fans can purchase tickets on a first-come, first-served basis without entering a lottery or being given special access.
Thousands of fans attempted to log on to the FIFA portal, with some waiting for hours to be granted access. Some people trying to get tickets to next summer’s tournament were mistakenly sent to a unique code-protected sale for supporters of international teams that just qualified on Tuesday.
This meant that redirected fans were forced to re-enter the digital queue and wait even longer. As ticket prices soared, there was a high demand for tickets, and those who were able to get tickets had a hard time.
The Athletic reported on Wednesday that ticket prices for 40 of the 104 World Cup matches had increased from the previous tier. Tickets for the Category 1 World Cup final now cost $10,990 (£8,316), up from $6,370 (£4,820) when they first went on sale in October.
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Category 3 tickets for the final nearly doubled in price to $5,785 (£4,378), while category 2 tickets cost $7,380 (£5,585). Tickets for both the semi-finals and quarter-finals also saw price increases for Category 1 tickets.
It wasn’t just a ticket to the business end of the tournament. For the opening matches between the hosts in Mexico and Canada, Category 1 ticket prices rose to $2,985 (£2,258), while Category 2 ticket prices rose to $2,260 (£1,709) and Category 3 to $1,410 (£1,067).
There was speculation that tickets for some games were not selling, but there were no cheap tickets available on Wednesday’s sale. Some are unchanged from the December sale.
It is unclear how many tickets were made available at this stage of the sale, and FIFA did not provide any other detailed information. FIFA has been asked to comment on an incorrect portal link that directed fans to a page that said “No products available.”
A German fan holds a replica World Cup trophy ahead of this summer’s tournament.
The link was fixed within two hours, but many fans missed out on tickets and took to social media to express their frustration. One user said: “What FIFA did with the World Cup tickets is an absolute joke. It’s almost impossible for people to buy. Resale on third party websites and the prices they set should be illegal.”
Another said: “I’ve been planning for four years to take my wife and two kids to a World Cup game this year. Any game would be fine. I thought it would be easy to buy Curaçao vs. Ecuador since it’s so close to KC. I was wrong! The cheapest tickets are over $300 each.”
“Just checked my World Cup tickets today,” said another. “That’s not true.”
One fan said: “It was such a mess today. We stood in line to get World Cup tickets to see Turkiye. Then we realized @FIFAcom put us in the wrong line and we had to start all over again. After logging in at 10am this morning, we finally got in at 9pm and realized there were no tickets left.”
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