Despite a wave of criticism, FIFA has drawn a positive interim conclusion on ticket sales for the 2026 World Cup. According to the world association, five million inquiries were received from over 200 countries in the first 24 hours of the third sales phase; FIFA interprets this as confirmation of the “great interest in outstanding group games”.
Most inquiries for the XXL World Cup with 48 teams (June 11 to July 19) have so far come from the three host countries USA, Canada and Mexico. This is followed by Colombia, England and Brazil as well as Argentina, Scotland and Germany. According to FIFA, the duel between Colombia and Portugal on June 27th in Miami is particularly popular. The German group game against Ecuador on June 25th in East Rutherford is also in the top 5 games.
The FIFA figures refer to the ticket phase for the raffle, which runs until January 13th, and not to the tickets offered through the participating national associations. The prices for the association contingents, which go to the fans of the German national team, have caused massive criticism in Europe.
The fan organization Football Supporters Europe (FSE) was “horrified” by the “horrendous ticket prices”. In some smaller countries, the costs for the games in the group phase exceed the average monthly wage of a resident.