I wanted to create a separate thread to discuss ticketing for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
This is NOT a Ticket Resale Thread.
I've been to the last 4 World Cups (Russia 2018, France 2019, Qatar 2022, and Australia/New Zealand 2023).
I wanted to share my experience here with discussions on how the ticketing process works. I'll answer any questions to the best of my ability. There's always a possibility things change for 2026, but FIFA has been consistent for the last several cycles, so I don't think so. While things worked similarly for the Women's World Cups, I am going to leave that to the side for now.
Ticketing works in Phases. FIFA runs the show for the vast majority of tickets, but do allow countries to allocate a percentage of tickets for their own supporters. More on that later.
The important thing to note is FIFA does not release all tickets at once, instead going with a tiered approach. So if you are unsuccessful in getting tickets for a match initially, all is not lost.
For 2018, Phase 1 began on 14 Sep 2017, 9 months before kickoff.
For 2022, Phase 1 began on 19 Jan 2022, 9 months before kickoff.
Phase 1A lasted approximately 1 month. Fans could submit their interest online for any and all matches they wished to attend. It did not matter what day during that Phase requests were submitted; the results are a lottery.
After the conclusion of Phase 1A, applicants were told which matches they won the right to purchase, and had a short period to do so.
Phase 1B followed shortly after (about 2-3 weeks later). This is a first come, first serve period that lasts for about 2 weeks. Again, not all tickets are allocated in this Phase.
Phase 2 is similar, a random draw followed by a first come, first serve phase.
For 2018, Phase 2 began on 1 Dec 2017, 6 months before kickoff.
For 2022, Phase 2 began on 5 Apr 2022, 7 months before kickoff.
After both of these Phases, FIFA then runs Phase 3, a Last Minute Sales period. This period is entirely first come, first serve, and all remaining tickets go up for sale.
For 2018, Phase 3 began on 18 Apr 2018 and ran until the conclusion of the tournament.
For 2022, Phase 3 began on 27 Sep 2022 and ran until the conclusion of the tournament.
FIFA also runs a Ticket Resale that opens around the same time as Phase 3. FIFA allows people to put up for resale (at face value +5%) any ticket that they have and do not wish to use. Resale is also run as first come, first serve.
FIFA does check for IDs matching the name listed on the ticket, and do take this seriously. While third party resellers exist, it's not a process I would trust. (Third parties do get around this by transferring tickets to buyers in lieu of putting tickets up for Resale, but I've heard (and seen) some horror stories.)
Individuals do have a ticket limit for the tournament, but it's a fairly large number (I believe it was something like 60 tickets for 2022).
FIFA separates tickets into Categories, 1, 2, and 3.
Category 1 tickets are the most expensive and are typically in the center of the pitch, in both lower and upper decks.
Category 2 tickets are behind both goals, again in both lower and upper decks.
Category 3 tickets are typically in the corners in lower and upper decks, and are the least expensive.
There are set prices for each Category, and scale up in price as the tournament progresses, but to this point have not been priced based on the participants.
For reference, Qatar 2022's Group Stage ran approximately $75, $150, $250 for the 3 Categories.
When applying for tickets during the Lottery phases, you can select which Category you wish to purchase. To increase your chances, you can also accept a Category higher or lower. Thus, Category 2 is typically a good selection to make.
As mentioned earlier, FIFA allocates a percentage of tickets to each country participating. This is not the ONLY way to get tickets to your country's match, but it is by far the likeliest, and you aren't allowed to double dip. IE if you apply through US Soccer, you cannot also apply through FIFA for the same match.
I can only speak to how US Soccer allocates tickets, but I would presume other countries do something similar.
US Soccer has historically done a Weighted Random Draw for their Insiders Program, depending on which subscription tier you were in.
For 2022 this worked as follows:
Draw 1 (25% of the allocation) was for Circle Insiders.
Draw 2 (25% of the allocation) was for VIP and Premium/Family Insiders (Active before 12/18).
Draw 3 (25% of the allocation) was for Premium/Family Insiders (Active after 12/18).
Draw 4 (25% of the allocation) was for Standard Insiders.
Anybody not selected in a first draw would get another crack at any subsequent one.
Insider prices range from free for standard all the way up to $500+ per year for the lowest Circle membership. I currently am a Premium Insider at $45/year.
I think we'll see something very similar for 2026, but with demand high, I see them further taking Insider longevity into account. So it's definitely worth signing up ASAP if you're wanting to try and snag US match tickets. Your odds will be very low to try and snag them as a free member.
Note that only one member needs to be at the highest level to purchase tickets, but everyone in that request needs to be at least a free Insider.
This is NOT a Ticket Resale Thread.
I've been to the last 4 World Cups (Russia 2018, France 2019, Qatar 2022, and Australia/New Zealand 2023).
I wanted to share my experience here with discussions on how the ticketing process works. I'll answer any questions to the best of my ability. There's always a possibility things change for 2026, but FIFA has been consistent for the last several cycles, so I don't think so. While things worked similarly for the Women's World Cups, I am going to leave that to the side for now.
Ticketing works in Phases. FIFA runs the show for the vast majority of tickets, but do allow countries to allocate a percentage of tickets for their own supporters. More on that later.
The important thing to note is FIFA does not release all tickets at once, instead going with a tiered approach. So if you are unsuccessful in getting tickets for a match initially, all is not lost.
For 2018, Phase 1 began on 14 Sep 2017, 9 months before kickoff.
For 2022, Phase 1 began on 19 Jan 2022, 9 months before kickoff.
Phase 1A lasted approximately 1 month. Fans could submit their interest online for any and all matches they wished to attend. It did not matter what day during that Phase requests were submitted; the results are a lottery.
After the conclusion of Phase 1A, applicants were told which matches they won the right to purchase, and had a short period to do so.
Phase 1B followed shortly after (about 2-3 weeks later). This is a first come, first serve period that lasts for about 2 weeks. Again, not all tickets are allocated in this Phase.
Phase 2 is similar, a random draw followed by a first come, first serve phase.
For 2018, Phase 2 began on 1 Dec 2017, 6 months before kickoff.
For 2022, Phase 2 began on 5 Apr 2022, 7 months before kickoff.
After both of these Phases, FIFA then runs Phase 3, a Last Minute Sales period. This period is entirely first come, first serve, and all remaining tickets go up for sale.
For 2018, Phase 3 began on 18 Apr 2018 and ran until the conclusion of the tournament.
For 2022, Phase 3 began on 27 Sep 2022 and ran until the conclusion of the tournament.
FIFA also runs a Ticket Resale that opens around the same time as Phase 3. FIFA allows people to put up for resale (at face value +5%) any ticket that they have and do not wish to use. Resale is also run as first come, first serve.
FIFA does check for IDs matching the name listed on the ticket, and do take this seriously. While third party resellers exist, it's not a process I would trust. (Third parties do get around this by transferring tickets to buyers in lieu of putting tickets up for Resale, but I've heard (and seen) some horror stories.)
Individuals do have a ticket limit for the tournament, but it's a fairly large number (I believe it was something like 60 tickets for 2022).
FIFA separates tickets into Categories, 1, 2, and 3.
Category 1 tickets are the most expensive and are typically in the center of the pitch, in both lower and upper decks.
Category 2 tickets are behind both goals, again in both lower and upper decks.
Category 3 tickets are typically in the corners in lower and upper decks, and are the least expensive.
There are set prices for each Category, and scale up in price as the tournament progresses, but to this point have not been priced based on the participants.
For reference, Qatar 2022's Group Stage ran approximately $75, $150, $250 for the 3 Categories.
When applying for tickets during the Lottery phases, you can select which Category you wish to purchase. To increase your chances, you can also accept a Category higher or lower. Thus, Category 2 is typically a good selection to make.
As mentioned earlier, FIFA allocates a percentage of tickets to each country participating. This is not the ONLY way to get tickets to your country's match, but it is by far the likeliest, and you aren't allowed to double dip. IE if you apply through US Soccer, you cannot also apply through FIFA for the same match.
I can only speak to how US Soccer allocates tickets, but I would presume other countries do something similar.
US Soccer has historically done a Weighted Random Draw for their Insiders Program, depending on which subscription tier you were in.
For 2022 this worked as follows:
Draw 1 (25% of the allocation) was for Circle Insiders.
Draw 2 (25% of the allocation) was for VIP and Premium/Family Insiders (Active before 12/18).
Draw 3 (25% of the allocation) was for Premium/Family Insiders (Active after 12/18).
Draw 4 (25% of the allocation) was for Standard Insiders.
Anybody not selected in a first draw would get another crack at any subsequent one.
Insider prices range from free for standard all the way up to $500+ per year for the lowest Circle membership. I currently am a Premium Insider at $45/year.
I think we'll see something very similar for 2026, but with demand high, I see them further taking Insider longevity into account. So it's definitely worth signing up ASAP if you're wanting to try and snag US match tickets. Your odds will be very low to try and snag them as a free member.
Note that only one member needs to be at the highest level to purchase tickets, but everyone in that request needs to be at least a free Insider.
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