Buying Tickets to the World Cup

man looking at postcards

Everyone wants a ticket to a game, but how do you acquire a ticket? How much does it cost? Are there any stipulations?

We address all of these common questions below…if we missed one, let us know!

Current World Cups Details

2026 USA / Mexico / Canada

You can find our 2026 specific article here.

The above link will detail the 2026 tournament and answer (once it is all available):

  • When do 2026 World Cup Tickets go on sale?
  • How do I purchase 2026 World Cup tickets specifically
  • What are the phases and timelines of 2026 World Cup tickets?
  • etc

Also:

  1. Read below to educate yourself on how the process typically works and see live examples from tournaments past as we are quite passionate about this topic!
  2. Come back to visit as we’ll likely see packages with Roadtrips and Next Generation International again!
  3. Have a comment or question or want us to put you in touch with a package provider, send us a message!

Previous World Cup Ticket Examples

2022 Qatar

You can review specifics on how Qatar 2022 tickets were allocated here.

2023 Australia/New Zealand

You can review specifics on how Australia / New Zealand 2023 tickets were allocated & priced here.

In General, How do you purchase tickets?

You Need A FIFA Account

First and foremost, you’ll need a FIFA account for most actions in the tournament. This is a heads up to be ready to create a password and enter other account details.

When you navigate to FIFA’s ticket section, find the appropriate tournament and you’ll be prompted to create an account. We used to link to this account creation specifically but FIFA has changed their site around so this is the best we can do at the moment.

Once you’re done with an account, educate yourself below on the 4 official ways to buy a ticket officially + black market:

Official Way #1 – FIFA’s Website

All official World Cup tickets are purchased on FIFA’s own Ticketing Portal/Website. Read below if you’re wondering about 3rd party sites. Now that you know where to go, next is to understand that there are a few different “types” of tickets to purchase.

The typical types are explained below – with minor variances at each tournament.

  • Team Specific
    • You commit to a specific team and should they qualify, you receive tickets to the team’s matches, wherever and whenever they play.
    • Typically, this is only during Phase 1, except for hospitality packages (see below)
  • Stadium Specific
    • You commit to a specific stadium and then receive tickets to whatever teams are assigned to play at whatever time.
    • Typically, this is only during Phase 1, except for hospitality packages (see below)
  • Individual Tickets
    • You commit to a specific match.
    • As you’ll see in the Phases below, you will not know the teams in Phase 1 but will know after the draw, which is typically the start of Phase 2.

Understanding the Typical Ticket Phases

Again, FIFA’s website is the official place to make a purchase.  However, ticket sales allotments occur, typically, across multiple “Phases” for a purchase:

  1. Phase 1 is a random lottery before the teams are even known
  2. Phase 2 is a first come, first serve after the draw
  3. Phase 3 is a random lottery
  4. Phase 4 is typically the last phase and first come, first serve

At times, we’ve seen only Phase 1 and 2 occur, and a second lottery is skipped.

The biggest pro to obtaining a ticket this official route – it is official and you are guaranteed entry.

Australia / New Zealand 2023 Ticket Phases

The Women’s World Cup in Australia & New Zealand had only 3 phases.

Qatar 2022 Ticket Phases

Qatar 2022 had 3 only “Phases” but Phase 2 is split into 2 sub-phases so it is essentially the same idea.

Buying Multiple Tickets

When applying for tickets, the person applying is the “Main Applicant” and additional tickets are considered “Guests”. It is important you understand this as you can change your guests but NOT the “main applicant”. FIFA does scan a Fan ID and Match Ticket upon entering a stadium.

So if you have a group of 4 that wants to go, you can apply for 4 tickets. You will be the “main applicant” and the other 3 will be “guests”. The “main applicant” later has the responsibility of sending the tickets to their guests.

Choosing Seat Location

You CANNOT choose your specific seat when purchasing tickets. Whether you bought tickets in the Random Lottery Phase or in First Come, First Serve Phase, seats are allocated weeks before the tournament starts.

Allocation of where you sit is based on what CATEGORY of ticket you purchase. Read below in the “Explaining Categories” section for more.

This means the seats in the last row of the stadium may be the exact same price as the front row. We explain how this can be a “pro” in a different article.

Official Way #2 – Travel/Hospitality/Corporate Affiliates

General Hospitality Comments:

FIFA has their official hospitality, (MATCH Hospitality for recent tournaments), which operates sites for the Men’s World Cup as well as the Women’s World Cup.

Think of this as a way to skip the madness during the Sales Phases and get a guaranteed ticket. You pay a premium on this of course but it isn’t as bad as paying as much as people are willing to pay on the black market.

For example, in Qatar, the least expensive package was $950 USD per person per match ticket. For the 2023 Women’s tournament, it is about $200 USD for a hospitality ticket per person.

MATCH can also subcontract hospitality packages to regional vendors but be careful to vet anyone who claims to be a ticket provider.

If you have questions about this, send us a message to hello@theworldcupguide.com and we’ll try to assist.

Other World Cup Travel Packages:

There’s also creative travel packages from vendors like Next Generation International & Roadtrips which both had 2022 & 2023 packages and will definitely have 2026 & 2027 packages.

In fact, Roadtrips already announced their 2026 packages.

For direct connections to Next Generation International and RoadTrips, send us a message or email directly hello@theworldcupguide.com and we can put you in touch – and possibly receive a discount.

Corporate Sponsor Ticket Inventory:

Lastly, corporate sponsors will manage their own ticket inventory. They are technically not allowed to resell tickets but we’ve certainly seen promises from people on Facebook.

Official Way #3 – Team Federations

Each Football/Soccer Association is allocated tickets as well.

The allocation to their fans and supporters groups is handled by each federation individually and you’ll want to be in touch with your Federation for details.

The federations may also host competitions or work with a vendor to organize packages.

Official Way #4 – Official Sponsorship/Corporations

Sponsors & Corporations will of course have allocated tickets to dole out to a lucky few. For Qatar 2022, you could also purchase an official package via Qatar Airways.

Contact us if you have a story to share here!

Also, it is quite common for sponsors to launch contests or packages.

Unofficial / Unauthorized Way / Blackmarket

Buyer BEWARE. FIFA states that the “unauthorised transfer, resale or further use of Tickets is a violation of the General Terms and Conditions for the Use of Tickets.” 

With that said, there will be plenty of opportunity to take the risk online or in person at the event. There seems to be as many successful stories as there are horror stories (arrested, fake tickets, robbery, etc). The choice and subsequent consequence is yours to make and own.

The most common question is “Can I buy a ticket on Stubhub” (or related 3rd party vendor)?

Read that quote above first and foremost.

Any listed ticket you see on a 3rd party are likely “guest tickets” of someone that purchased. If you ignore the FIFA regulations and go this route, do know that your success of receiving tickets is completely dependent on a stranger sending you the tickets once available – and that may not be until weeks before the tournament.

Read that again – tickets will not be in the physical hands of official purchase parties until weeks before the tournament starts so if you’re buying from any platform outside of FIFA, think about that anxiety.

Plus, FIFA allows a “resale portal” where anyone unable to attend the tournament can post their tickets for resale and the price remains the same for the next buyer who then buys an official ticket and the seller is refunded. See below for more details.

How much does a ticket cost?

Tickets to Group Matches are surprisingly affordable – compared to what you may imagine.  The real trick of the trade is applying ahead of time so you don’t have to fight the crowds over a nosebleed seat online.

Explaining Categories

Also – tickets are broken down into CATEGORIES. These categories are based on positioning relative to the field and NOT how close someone is, so yes, that means, you may pay less money to sit front row (but be behind the goal) than sitting in the last row of the stadium (but be positioned at midfield).

  • Category 1 = between the 18s (i.e. middle of the field)
  • Category 2 = endline to 18 (i.e. at corners)
  • Category 3 = behind the goal (i.e. well…behind the goal)
  • Category 4 = if it exists, it is reserved for residents of the country

See an example layout of Categories at Stadium 974 for Qatar.

https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/243fb48390a8f249/original/974_EN.png

Actual Tournament Ticket Pricing Examples

Australia New Zealand 2023 Price Details

Starts at $20 AUD for adults! Read more here.

In fact, we purchased two tickets to the 2023 Women’s World Cup FINAL for only $25 USD each!

Don’t miss out, educate yourself and apply.

Qatar 2022 Price Details

For updates, check our specific site as mentioned here. A quick summary is below.

All prices shown below are in QAR (Qatari Rial).

A quick site for conversion to your local currency is https://www.oanda.com/currency-converter.

For comparison to USD, every 100 QAR is approximately $27 USD (per January 19th, 2022). Use the link or your own source as currencies are a fluid value.

Russia 2018 Price Details

Russia 2018 to provide helpful information.

“Three categories of tickets were available, with Category 1 the most expensive.

The cheapest seats, Category 3, cost $105 for group stage matches, to $175 for the quarter-finals and $455 for the final. Category 1 seats cost between $550 in the group stage and $1,100 for the final.”

What does this mean?

An OFFICIAL match ticket was as cheap as $105 and potentially FRONT ROW OF A FINAL was $1,100!

When Do Tickets Go On Sale?

USA / Canada Mexico 2026 Note:

Read our 2026 specific article!

That said, 2025 is when they’ll likely go on sale but read up for more details.

2023 Details

Read here to review Australia / New Zealand 2023.

2022 Details

Read here to review Qatar’s details.

How many tickets can one person purchase?

For Qatar 2022, it was 60 total tickets across 6 games.

For Australia / New Zealand 2023, it was 10 tickets/match and 100 max per household.

If I buy tickets, can I resell them without risking a penalty?

Yes! But…there’s a few things you should know as there’s an OFFICIAL way to resell while also not being a greedy individual. We posted more about Qatar reselling here.

Also, read above on the black market.

Little known fact, (in previous tournaments) if you are unable to attend a game, FIFA allows you to re-list these on their site! See Qatar 2022 reselling info as an example.

Why?

The ticket is reallocated to the general public.

Is there a fee to do this? 

Of course there is; it is FIFA.  It is typically a 5%-10% fee.

You can read more on this directly from FIFA regarding 2014’s policy.

Do I need my passport or ID to enter the game?

You may need a Fan ID

If you’re wondering if Fan IDs exist for Australia/New Zealand, read here.

If you’re curious about USA/Canada/Mexico 2026, read up on Fan IDs. Since the tournament isn’t quite ready for ticket sales and visitors, the details on immigration and if a Fan ID will be created in addition to or potentially in replacement of, have yet to be determined.

Qatar 2022 rolled out their version of the Fan ID, called the Hay’ya card that was required to enter stadiums.

In both 2018 & 2022, you needed the Fan ID + your match ticket to enter the stadium.

As regulations are released for upcoming tournaments, we’ll update the site but you can also check this article.

I Bought Tickets – Now What?

You’ll want to book your travel; that is your flights, hotels, etc.

Prepare in advance for packing some World Cup viewing essentials.

Attending a World Cup is not cheap, but it also doesn’t have to break the bank:

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