How FIFA used dynamic pricing to milk millions more out of 2026 World Cup tickets

When FIFA sold its first batch of 2026 World Cup tickets back in October, prices were unprecedented. An upper-deck endline ticket to the World Cup final, for example, cost $2,790. Across the board, for every match, every ticket category was far more expensive than at previous World Cups. Fans blasted the pricing as “astonishing” and “unacceptable,” and called on FIFA to course-correct.

FIFA, instead, did the opposite.

Over the past six months, soccer’s global governing body raised World Cup ticket prices for around 90 of the tournament’s 104 matches. For Category 1 tickets, the average increase from October to April was over $200, according to screenshots and information captured by fans and analyzed by The Athletic.

FIFA hiked the prices in stages, first from October to November, then after the World Cup draw in December, and again on April 1. The phased approach meant that each price hike was relatively modest — increases mostly in the region of 10% or 20%.

But viewed more broadly, the prices across FIFA’s three main ticket categories jumped on average by 34% from October to April, according to an Athletic analysis comparing this month’s listings to original listings.

Some prices — including for that Category 3 ticket to the final, and for the group-stage match pitting Colombia against Portugal — have more than doubled.

The biggest percentage increases were for Spain vs. Uruguay. Before that pairing was set, tickets for the June 26 match in Guadalajara started at $345, $260 and $120 in Categories 1, 2 and 3. Now, they cost $780, $575 and $315.

By magnitude, the biggest jumps were for the World Cup final. Prices in the three categories rose by $4,620, $3,170 and $2,995 respectively. The original high-end price of $6,730, which shocked fans, is now $10,990.

The analysis reveals how FIFA, for the first time, used a “variable pricing” strategy, also known as dynamic pricing, to milk millions more dollars out of fans and capitalize on massive demand for the World Cup.

It is not possible to translate the price increases into a revenue estimate because FIFA has not said how many tickets were made available for each match and in each category at each stage of the process.

But FIFA released the tickets in phases, seemingly helping it respond to demand and convert that demand into more income. It sold around 1 million tickets in October at the original prices; another 1 million (roughly) in November after prices had been elevated for around half of the 104 games; and more than 1 million more this winter after adjusting prices once matchups were set.

It entered April with hundreds of thousands, and perhaps more than 1 million tickets remaining. Some have been purposefully held back despite overwhelming demand in previous sales phases. Others are still available because they did not sell in previous phases.

And once again, at the start of this “last-minute sales phase” on Wednesday, prices had been raised for around 40 matches, including many in the knockout rounds.

From October to April, prices for eight matches decreased in all three categories. These are matches in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles that were initially priced higher than most other group games solely based on their location. When the World Cup draw and FIFA’s schedule-makers assigned them unappealing teams in December, the prices fell — from $620 in Category 1 to $450 or $500.

Los Angeles will host the United States’ group opener. (Catherine Ivill / AMA / Getty Images)

For five other games, prices remained mostly unchanged. And for one — the U.S. opener against Paraguay — they have not budged in any category since October. That opener, at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, was initially the third-most expensive game of the 2026 World Cup, behind the final and one semifinal, but it has not sold anywhere near as well as expected.

For the remaining 90 games, though, prices increased by at least $25 in at least two categories.

Twenty-one matches saw an increase of more than 50% in Category 1, while 38 matches saw an increase of at least 50% in Category 3.

For dozens of group matches, the main source of the price hikes was the realization of the teams involved in December. But for dozens of others, FIFA seemed to be responding to early demand.

Prices rose in at least one category for every single knockout match. And for Mexico’s opener, which was set long before tickets first went on sale, prices jumped from each ticketing phase to the next. On the whole, from October to April, they surged from $1,825 to $2,985 in Category 1, $1,290 to $2,260 in Category 2, and $745 to $1,410 in Category 3 — all increases of more than $600 and more than 60%.

The following is a look at how prices in Category 1 — the broadest category, encompassing the lower bowls of stadiums and some second-deck sections, depending on the venue — changed from October to April.

FIFA has consistently defended its pricing and approach as a reflection of North American norms and “extraordinary” demand, and noted that it reinvests much of the World Cup’s revenue in the development of soccer globally.

How Category 1 World Cup ticket prices have changed since initial release