FIFA Introduces $60 Supporter Tickets After Backlash Over 2026 World Cup Prices

World Cup organizers on Tuesday unveiled a new cut-price ticket category following strong criticism from fans over ticket prices for the 2026 tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Football’s global governing body FIFA said it has created a limited “Supporter Entry Tier,” with tickets priced at a fixed $60 for all 104 matches, including the final. FIFA said the move was “designed to further support traveling fans following their national teams across the tournament.”

According to FIFA, the $60 tickets will be reserved for supporters of qualified teams and will account for 10 percent of each national federation’s ticket allocation.

Fan group Football Supporters Europe (FSE), which last week described FIFA’s pricing as “extortionate” and “astronomical,” said the measure did not go far enough.

“While we welcome FIFA’s seeming recognition of the damage its original plans were to cause, the revisions do not go far enough,” FSE said in a statement.

FSE previously said ticket prices for 2026 were almost five times higher than those at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, calling the pricing a “monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup.” It estimated that a fan following their team from the opening match to the final would spend at least $6,900, despite organizers promising tickets from $21 in the 2018 bid document.

‘Appeasement tactic’

On Tuesday, FSE said FIFA’s partial reversal exposed deeper flaws in the ticketing process.

“For the moment we are looking at the FIFA announcement as nothing more than an appeasement tactic due to the global negative backlash,” the group said, adding that pricing decisions appeared rushed and made without proper consultation, including with FIFA’s own member associations.

Based on current allocations, FSE said only a few hundred fans per match and team would benefit from the $60 tickets, while most supporters would still face prices “higher than at any tournament before.” The group also criticized FIFA for failing to make adequate provisions for supporters with disabilities and their companions.

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer echoed those concerns, saying the new category was insufficient.

“I welcome FIFA’s announcement of some lower priced supporters tickets,” Starmer wrote on X. “But as someone who used to save up for England tickets, I encourage FIFA to do more to make tickets more affordable so that the World Cup doesn’t lose touch with the genuine supporters who make the game so special.”

FIFA said national federations have been asked to ensure the discounted tickets are allocated to “loyal fans who are closely connected to their national teams.” It also said fans who buy knockout-stage tickets but see their team eliminated earlier will have administrative fees waived on refunds.

The governing body said the changes were announced amid “extraordinary global demand,” with around 20 million ticket requests already submitted. The first draw for tickets across all price categories is scheduled for Tuesday, January 13.