England's World Cup warm-up match against New Zealand could be played in front of 50,000 empty seats as organisers struggle to sell tickets. The game, scheduled for June 6 at the 69,000-seat Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, has only sold 13,000 tickets so far, with just 1,500 official England Supporters Travel Club members set to attend.
The cheapest tickets are priced at £54, but the overall cost of attending the World Cup across North America has soared, deterring fans. The Football Association (FA) has acknowledged that the price of the tournament is taking its toll, with fans picking and choosing games or opting not to travel at all. The third-party operator employed to sell tickets in Florida is struggling to offload them, a situation the FA says it is not surprised by.
In contrast, England's second warm-up match against Costa Rica in Orlando is expected to be near capacity at the 25,500-seat Inter&Co Stadium. Florida has a large Costa Rican population, which has boosted ticket sales for that fixture. Thomas Tuchel's side will begin their World Cup campaign against Croatia on June 17, followed by matches against Ghana and Panama.
FIFA is facing an investigation into its ticket pricing and sales practices, with New York and New Jersey officials examining 'dynamic pricing' that has led to huge costs for fans. The cheapest tickets for England's opening game against Croatia were priced at £628 on FIFA's resale platform in April. Fans have complained about being misled regarding ticket categories, with some not receiving the category they thought they had purchased.
