The Football Association has been praised for withholding the cheapest band of tickets available to England supporters until the day before their World Cup matches to prevent them being resold at inflated prices. Thomas Tuchel's side begin their 2026 World Cup campaign against Croatia on Wednesday, backed by thousands of fans.
Tournament organisers FIFA have faced heavy criticism over ticketing, with some fans paying hugely inflated sums to attend matches. However, England supporters will have the chance to purchase hundreds of 'entry tier' tickets costing $60 (£45) courtesy of the FA.
As reported by The Times, tickets for England games will not be released by the FA until the day before fixtures in an attempt to stop them ending up on resale sites. FIFA has claimed that US legislation means they must allow tickets to be resold at any price, and they are currently taking 30 per cent of the value of each ticket sold via their official resale platform.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has defended the pricing, citing unprecedented demand for the tournament being held across the United States, Canada and Mexico. He said: 'If you sell it at a lower price point in this particular market it would have gone — which is perfectly legal in this country ... in secondary markets at much, much, much higher prices.' Infantino also compared World Cup ticket prices to those for other US sports, pointing to the NBA Finals as an example of surging prices due to growing interest.
