New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has announced a programme offering 1,000 tickets for the 2026 World Cup at $50 each to residents of the five boroughs. The tickets, distributed via a random draw, cover every match at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey except the final, and include bus transportation to and from the venue.
The tickets are located in the upper bowl of the 82,000-capacity stadium. A block of approximately 150 tickets is allocated for each of the seven games: five group matches (Brazil v Morocco on 13 June, France v Senegal on 16 June, Norway v Senegal on 22 June, Ecuador v Germany on 25 June, and Panama v England on 27 June), plus a Round of 32 game on 30 June and a Round of 16 game on 5 July.
Mayor Mamdani unveiled the plan in the Little Senegal neighbourhood of Harlem, accompanied by community leaders and US men's national team players Tim Weah and Mark McKenzie, both New York natives. The initiative is a collaboration between the mayor's office and the NY/NJ World Cup host committee, not with Fifa, which controls ticket operations and has faced criticism for dynamic pricing.
The lottery opens on 25 May at 10am Eastern Time and closes on 30 May at 5pm ET, with a maximum of 50,000 daily entries. Winners can purchase up to two tickets each, which are non-transferable and will be handed over on game day. This marks the first time a host city has provided special ticket access to its residents, echoing Qatar's discounted tickets for locals in 2022.
Ticket pricing has been a contentious issue for the 2026 World Cup. New Jersey Transit initially announced a round-trip train fare of $150 from New York to MetLife Stadium, later reduced to $105, while bus tickets are expected to cost $80. Fifa previously released a limited number of $60 tickets, but dynamic pricing has driven most prices into the hundreds. Mayor Mamdani, a vocal critic of Fifa's pricing, stated that the federation prioritises revenue over accessibility, impacting the atmosphere and fan diversity at matches.
