FIFA raises top ticket price for World Cup final to $10,990

Soccer fans gathered on the grounds of the legislature to take part in the FIFA World Cup 2026 countdown celebration event in Victoria, B.C. ( AP)

WASHINGTON, April 2 (AP): FIFA raised its top ticket price for the World Cup final to $10,990 during the glitch-hampered reopening of sales Wednesday after the 48-team field for this year's tournament was finalized.

The price had been $8,680 when FIFA sold tickets after the tournament draw in December.

FIFA’s category 2 tickets for the July 19 game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, were $7,380, up from $5,575, and category 3 cost $5,785, an increase of $4,185.

Tickets were listed for 17 of the 72 group-stage matches by Wednesday night, and none of the knockout stage games.

Soccer's governing body is using dynamic pricing for the tournament, which will be played in 11 U.S. cities plus three in Mexico and two in Canada.

Only $2,735 tickets, the highest-priced seats, were available by evening for the U.S. opener on June 12 against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, and the price was unchanged from December. No tickets were listed for the Americans' June 19 game against Australia at Seattle or their June 25 match against Turkey at Inglewood.

Only $2,985 seats were available by Wednesday evening for the tournament opener between Mexico and Saudi Arabia on June 11 in Mexico City, up from $2,355 in December. And only $2,240 tickets were available for Canada's first game on June 12 against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Toronto, an increase from $2,170.

Soccer's governing body did not announce which games and price categories were available, leaving potential ticket buyers to search for themselves on a FIFA ticketing site that often took hours to enter.

Some people who clicked on what FIFA called its "last-minute sales phase” when sales opened at 11 a.m. EDT were directed into a queue for "PMA late qualifier supporters sales phase," aimed at a segment of fans for the six nations who earned berths on Tuesday.

FIFA did not have an explanation for why the link misdirection occurred, but said around noon that the links were working properly.

FIFA said this phase, which will remain open through the tournament, marked the first time a specific seat location could be purchased rather than a request for a ticket in a category.