Fifa has come under fresh criticism after announcing that fans will need to buy tickets to enter a World Cup 2026 fan zone in New Jersey. The fan festival, to be held in Liberty State Park, requires advance tickets priced at $12.50 (£9.50) via Ticketmaster, sparking anger among supporters who note that such zones are typically free at major sporting events.
The move adds to existing discontent over high ticket prices for the tournament itself. Fifa recently announced that 10% of tickets in allocations for qualified nations would be set at $60 (£44.70) per game, following widespread backlash. However, fan groups say they were not consulted and that the proportion of low-cost tickets remains insufficient.
Criticism has been particularly vocal on social media. One Instagram user commented: “Every other World Cup the fan fests have been FREE.” Another wrote: “Only Fifa will make tickets to the actual game so expensive that most fans only option is to watch at a fan fest…and then make fans pay for that too.”
It remains unclear whether the decision to charge for the fan zone was made by Fifa or the local host committee. The event is officially marketed as the “Fifa Fan Festival”, a trademarked term. The Independent has contacted Fifa for comment.
This week, Fifa also confirmed prize money of $50m (£37.5m) for the winning nation, with a total fund of $727m (£545m) for competing nations—a 50% increase from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Each nation will receive $1.5m (£1.1m) in preparation costs and at least $9m for participating in the group stage.
