FA withhold England World Cup tickets to prevent inflated resale prices
The Football Association will withhold the cheapest tier of tickets for England’s 2026 World Cup matches until the day before kick-off to prevent them from being sold at inflated prices on secondary markets.
Thomas Tuchel’s side begin their campaign against Croatia on Wednesday, backed by thousands of travelling supporters.
However, global governing body Fifa has faced heavy criticism regarding its ticketing strategy for the tournament across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Many fans have been forced to pay exorbitant sums just to secure a seat at the highly anticipated fixtures.
Combating the secondary market
To protect supporters, the English governing body has secured hundreds of entry-tier tickets priced at £45.
These affordable options will intentionally be kept off the market until 24 hours before the fixture.
The delayed release is designed to stop touts from purchasing the allocations and listing them on resale websites at a massive markup.
Fifa defends ticketing policy
Fifa maintains that United States legislation compels them to allow tickets to be resold at any price point.
The international organisers currently take a 30 per cent commission from every transaction processed through their official resale platform.
President Gianni Infantino has staunchly defended the cost of attending the finals, citing unprecedented global demand.
“If you sell it at a lower price point in this particular market it would have gone in secondary markets at much, much, much higher prices,” Gianni Infantino
The Swiss administrator argued that under-pricing tickets would simply funnel money toward black-market operators rather than reinvesting it into the sport.
Legal challenges and market comparisons
Several states across the US have launched legal investigations into the ticketing procedures, but Fifa remains unconcerned.
“If we do something wrong, then probably everyone selling tickets in North America is doing something wrong as well,” Gianni Infantino
The 54-year-old president compared the surging costs to other major American sporting events, noting similar trends during the NBA Finals.