- Do We Know the 2026 Schedule Yet?
- When Do World Cup 2026 Tickets Go On Sale?
- What Are the Basics of Purchasing World Cup Tickets?
- How Much Do World Cup 2026 Tickets Cost?
- How Are World Cup Tickets Different Than Super Bowl Tickets?
- PREVIOUS World Cup Ticket Pricing for General Sales
- Stay Informed
First, receive updates on tickets and other World Cup related content by subscribing to our (free) newsletter.
Latest Update: Sept 14 2025 – check back as we will continuously update this article and the site!
Do We Know the 2026 Schedule Yet?
Yes! The schedule was announced via livestream on February 04, 2024.
You can see an amazing timelapse of the schedule by host city and dates on a map we put together. Depending on your preference, you can see the timelapse via TikTok or Instagram. Honestly, this timelapse has been quite helpful for us as we try to determine what our future plans may be.
There’s a lot of excitement and after breaking the schedule down into different perspectives, we summarized the schedule in different views as well as added 9 Thoughts / Insights we gathered.
You can also view the schedule on FIFA’s site.
When Do World Cup 2026 Tickets Go On Sale?
General Ticket Sales (Started September 10th, 2025)
Looks like our best guess that we posted on this site for last few years to be between August to October 2025 is true. 😁
- However, FIFA also announced that this will be valid for VISA card holders only!
- Registering interest is Sept 10th to 19th
- If selected to purchase, you will be assigned a date and time in October.
What about the other Sales Phases? We detail that below.
What should you do?
- Login with your FIFA ID on FIFA.com/tickets
- Find a Visa card per their FAQ
- Complete the forms
- Pray to the gods you receive the golden invitation ticket for October
Hospitality Tickets (On Sale Now)
Hospitality Tickets are on sale now from FIFA’s Official vendor, On Location.
How Can I Buy Tickets Without Knowing The Teams?
Since first general sales tickets phase starts September 10th, 2025 and this is before the World Cup Draw (held in December the year before the tournament), you may be wondering “how do you buy tickets to the World Cup before you know the teams?”
First, you need to know what is meant by “Phase 1” and that is explained below a bit as well as in our generic article about World Cup tickets.
But, back to answering the question…the schedule itself will be known by the time the initial tickets go on sale. The schedule will detail the date, time, stadium and group assignment that will play. We already know the dates and cities of matches from the schedule reveal in Feb 2024, but we haven’t seen groups and matches assigned yet.
This means that the day the tickets go for sale for the first time ever, you will be applying for a ticket without knowing which teams you will watch compete. This applies to group stages and all knockout rounds too – including the final.
For example you may be applying to watch F1 vs F3 in Los Angeles at 3pm on July 1 (note, the specifics here are made up to illustrate the point). Once the draw takes place, you’ll find out which teams are assigned F1 and F3 and who you now have tickets to see.
What Are the Basics of Purchasing World Cup Tickets?
You Need A FIFA Account
All tickets are officially purchased on FIFA’s website and you need an account/FIFA ID.
Go to https://www.fifa.com/en/tickets and look for Register Your Interest for tickets. Your email becomes your FIFA ID.
Tip: You will also need a FIFA ID to use the tickets (or at least someone in your party who has the tickets will need a FIFA ID).
Sales Phases
Complete Sales Phase Picture for 2026:
Per The Athletic on Sep 03, there will be multiple phases for 2026:
- Phase 1 – Lottery Draw (Visa Card holders only)
- Register Sept 10 – 19
- Purchasing Ends Oct 21 – Presale (Phase 1) – Random Lottery Combo
- More details below…
- Also, FIFA’s Official Rules for Presale
- Phase 2 – Lottery Draw
- Similar to Phase 1, but without Visa Card requirement
- Hearing Oct 27 – 31
- Phase 3 – Post Draw in 2025
- Specific Times TBD
- Phase 4 – First Come, First Serve
- 2026 and “closer to the tournament”
Resale will occur within FIFA’s platform as well; however Canada / USA will be on a platform separate to Mexico due to different regulations within Mexico for resales.
Describing the 2 Types of Sales Phases:
There are 2 Types of “Phases” and they’re known as “First Come, First Serve” and “Random Lottery“.
First Come, First Serve:
This phase is what fans are most familiar with in purchasing tickets. You navigate to the FIFA Ticketing Portal, find the match you want to purchase tickets to, and if there’s availability, you pay via credit card at that time and the tickets are yours.
Random Lottery:
Random lottery is when everyone can submit interest in purchasing tickets but only a select few are randomly selected to participate.
Phase 1 Lottery Twist
In previous tournaments, everyone can submit a request for tickets to any match and the lottery was a random allocation of tickets to the requests. However for 2026, it will be a variation on this Random Lottery.
Let’s explain how this will work:
- Stop what you’re doing and ensure you have a FIFA ID
- Find a Visa card per their FAQ
- Between Sept 10th to 19th, log into Fifa.com/tickets and register your interest
- Fans will be drawn at random to win a date + time in October to make the purchase.
- Pray to the gods you receive the golden invitation ticket for October
- Within that time window, it will be chaotic and stressful because it is first come, first serve!
See below reel that shows my summary + FIFA’s screensohts and/or click here to read FIFA FAQ on the Process.
You can also read the Official Visa Presale Rules from FIFA. Most notably, only one entry is allowed per household.
FIFA 2026 Ticket Sales Update — Tap to watch
Types of Standard Tickets for General Sale
Individual Tickets – tickets purchased for a specific match. Please pay attention that FIFA states “Ticket products will be released during different sales phases, though not necessarily in every phase. Availability may vary depending on the timing of your purchase.”
Team Specific Tickets – tickets purchased to follow a specific team. It looks like this will only be valid in 2026 for Group Matches.
Stadium Specific Tickets – tickets purchase to attend every match in a specific stadium. It seems like FIFA will allow one or multi-match packages to be curated for Group Stage + Round of 32 or Round of 16 (whichever is first and applicable to venue). These tickets do not include Opening Match, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Bronze Match, Finals.
You can check up on FIFA’s official list here.
What’s Maximum Number of Tickets to Purchase
It varies by tournament. Per The Athletic, it seems like it will be 4 per match, up to 10 matches for 40 total.
Curious how that compares to Qatar 2022 – take a look:
- Here’s the link to the FIFA FAQ page on this topic and a summary of what it says below.
- For the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ you may purchase up to six (6) tickets per match up to a maximum of sixty (60) tickets across the entire FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ competition. However, there is also a household restriction of six (6) tickets per match.
Understanding Guest Ticket vs Main Applicant
The person applying for tickets is known as the “Main Applicant“.
Let’s say the “Main Applicant” purchases 2 tickets to the same match. The person that the “Main Applicant” invites is known as the “Guest“.
This is key because FIFA makes it difficult to resell match tickets on 3rd party platforms and “Guests” have essentially zero power outside of receiving and using the tickets.
In year’s past, FIFA would utilize their own Resale Platform to resell tickets in an effort to reduce scalping. However, for 2026, FIFA will still utilize their own Resale Platform but now, they’ll allow tickets to be resold at any price the seller chooses (except in Mexico, where it has to be face value due to local regulations).
Using our 2 ticket example, this means I can assign the guest ticket to my sister, but there’s not an easy way I can transfer my main applicant ticket to her spouse.
3rd Party Reseller Sites / FIFA Resale
Fans may be surprised that listing tickets for resale on a 3rd Party Platform (e.g. StubHub, Ticketmaster, Viagogo, LiveFootballTickets, etc) violates the “Terms of Use” by FIFA. Of course, these sites will still be active from those that don’t pay attention so proceed with caution and at your own risk and if you use a reseller, make sure they have an airtight policy on refunds (e.g. LiveFootballTickets.com provides 150% refund).
For 2026, the FIFA owned Resale Site will allow the price to be set by the seller (except in Mexico).
If you’re curious how it’s worked in other tournaments, check this out.
Be Prepared for Mobile Tickets
Unless technology takes a wild U-Turn soon, the tickets will be accessed on a FIFA mobile app. Take a look at the 2023 and 2022 mobile app articles for an idea on how it works.
The app is fairly advanced where tickets use bluetooth to “activate” a unique scannable barcode once the ticket holder is within the stadium grounds on match day.
Screenshots of the barcode will not work for sharing.
How Much Do World Cup 2026 Tickets Cost?
Confirmed Ticket Pricing Rumor From May 2025
Per The Athletic (a reliable source of information) in May 2025, FIFA is considering a dynamic pricing model that mimics the culture of the United States ticketing for live events.
September 3, 2025, The Athletic officially confirms this format + a massive list of other updates.
This is definitely a deviation in how FIFA prices tickets for World Cups, in recent times at least.
Let’s break it down…
Pricing by Categories
NOTE: 2026 will undergo a different structure for Categories!
- Category 1: The highest-priced seats, located primarily in the lower tier
- Category 2: Positioned outside of Category 1 areas, available in both lower and upper tiers
- Category 3: Located outside of Category 1 and 2 areas, typically in the upper tier
- Category 4: The most affordable category, located outside of Categories 1–3, and positioned in the upper tier
- Accessible Seating Area: Each FIFA World Cup 26™ stadium includes a designated area to accommodate individuals with disabilities and limited mobility.
However, the pricing won’t be static across Categories but you can generally assume for a specific match the levels will change based on the Categories.
Dynamic (sorry, “Variable“) Pricing Though for World Cup 2026
The Athletic article informs us that a FIFA Official said “We will adapt prices as per the demand we see, as per the remaining inventory,”.
This means the starting price could be as low as $60 USD and be as high as $6,730 for the highest price Finals ticket (🤯)…before the actual dynamic model hits.
How does $6,730 compare?
Well…Qatar 2022 was a static price so the greatest ever World Cup (and possibly any) match ever played between Argentina & France was $1,605 for same “Category” (i.e. 319.31% INCREASE!). And it may get worse with the “dynamic” pricing.
Comically, FIFA is trying to claim it will not use “dynamic” pricing but instead “variable” pricing. Semantics at best.
How Does 2026 Compare to Previous World Cups Overall?
Check out all historical prices to World Cups since 1994 here.
Official FIFA Hospitality Tickets
As of Jul 14, 2025, Hospitality Tickets for Single Matches & Packages are currently on sale!
- Read this article here or our newsletter subscriber detail for more information on Hospitality Packages and 2026 details.
Single Match HOSPITALITY tickets start at $1,350 USD.
There are many different package bundles that you can select from in Hospitality from “close, central tickets” to a Private Suite. All of these are detailed in the longer form article here since it is a different beast altogether.
A Hospitality Package is essentially a ticket to the match and you get a version of food, drinks, parking, etc + a small gift (see photo below of our gift in USA vs England, Qatar 2022).
You can now purchase Single Match Tickets for Hospitality & Contact and Official Sales Agent!
Hospitality Gift from Qatar 2022
FIFA Collect Digital Marketplace
FIFA announced their digital FIFA+ Collect marketplace, which allows you to make digital purchases to acquire rights to purchase tickets. It is a new avenue for 2026.
Essentially, a digital collectible launch occurs where fans can own a digital piece of history and with it, a “Right to Buy” (RTB) 2026 tickets.
What is a Right To Buy (RTB)? There’s not much detail but imagine it is almost a “presale” phase of tickets to acquire tickets before the general public has access.
It is covered in slightly more detail to (free) subscribers in our June Newsletter with additional links.
Be cautious when indulging here as it is ripe for 2nd hand markets and scams but as long as you are lucky enough to get one of the available collectibles, you have a legit RTB.
2025 Club World Cup & 2026 World Cup Ticket Bundles on FIFA Collect
Removed this section’s details now that 2025 Club World Cup is over. However, it is important to note that FIFA used the FIFA+ Collect platform to drop creative incentives and bundles for the tournament with 2026.
Travel Packages
We detail a bit more regarding a couple legit vendors that provide World Cup Travel Packages.
In fact, the premier luxury travel provider (i.e. if you have a large budget), Roadtrips has already launched their 2026 World Cup offerings. You can select a package for the World Cup Final, Semifinals, Follow a Team, Visit a City or create a custom package.
Seriously – send a message if you’d like to learn more regarding this avenue and we can put you directly in touch (where you can also get a $250 food and drink credit).
Sample from Roadtrips on their 2026 Packages (again, send us a message for an introduction):
2026 World Cup Travel Package example provided by Roadtrips
How Are World Cup Tickets Different Than Super Bowl Tickets?
A common from the American contingency as there are intense concerns about costs and availability.
Honestly – there’s an entire article that compares Copa 2024 to World Cups so read that article for way more details and illustrations but a very basic summary is below.
There are 4 key differences that are worth mentioning:
Ticket Sales Happen in Phases
And everyone has equal opportunity in all phases. That is, there isn’t a presale code or early access to those that will scalp the tickets (see more below) but instead, a random lottery occurs and then first in line.
Pricing is Split Into 3 to 4 Categories
Pricing Transparency
FIFA’s website is the official platform to purchase tickets and again as illustrated above, the face value of tickets is available from Day 1 and isn’t dependent on second hand markets.
Scratch that…not a thing for 2026.
FIFA Controls Resale Market
It seems like FIFA will control the market still; but allow people to resell at a high price.
Our favorite part about the ticketing, consistent since 2006 has been availability of resale tickets on FIFA’s platform – and at face value. Can’t attend a match? Get your money back by relisting it on FIFA and once it sells, you get a refund. FIFA also instills some guardrails through technology that significantly increases the friction for resale on second-hand markets; additionally, it technically violates terms of use, and there have been cases where people were turned away for violating these terms.
Can FIFA really stop it? No, but FIFA can minimize it. So you will still see people selling second-hand tickets for thousands of dollars above face value, but you can also find resale availability on the FIFA platform.
If people have thousands of dollars to spend on tickets, read up on hospitality tickets and luxury travel packages which may be your preferred method of attending a World Cup.
PREVIOUS World Cup Ticket Pricing for General Sales
You can always review ticket prices of Past World Cups (since 1994) here while we wait for 2026 specifics.
The cheapest ticket in previous tournaments hovered around $70 USD or less in the past for the men. The image of this article reflects tickets in Russia 2018 – Category 3 – at $105 USD. Qatar 2022 was closer to the $70 USD range for CAT3 in the Group Stages.
And it’s wild to reflect on how we purchased tickets to the Women’s England vs Spain 2023 Final in Sydney for equivalent to $25 USD each! The affordability of the 2023 Women’s Tournament is likely an era gone forever due to the astronomical and long overdue growth in that tournament.
What Was The United 2026 Bid Proposal Details (Again, This is from the BID PROPOSAL)
We’re going to leave this here for reference and comparisons…it is the BID PROPOSAL that was submitted in 2018 by USA, Mexico, Canada bid team. It paints a different story from a different era:
- You can access the official 2026 Bid Proposal on FIFA’s website and when you do so, navigate to page 490 and you will see the proposed pricing scheme. And…well…this would be quite the price increase.
- Remember this is only a Bid Proposal and constructed in 2018. Many aspects of the proposal already has changed; and, it is interesting to see where the minds were at vs now. (minds = 💰).
Page 490 in https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/3c077448dcd5c0ab/original/w3yjeu7dadt5erw26wmu-pdf.pdf
Stay Informed
- Use the subscribe option below to receive email updates on new posts and curated info.
- Follow us on X and instagram
- Use options below to rate the information as helpful or unhelpful (& why you thought so)
- If you’d like to discuss a collaboration, send a message
30 thoughts on “How to Buy Tickets to the 2026 World Cup”
Thanks for all the updates! 2 questions:
1. If FIFA implements a dynamic pricing model, is that going to prevent them from controlling the resale market like previous tournaments?
2. For Phase 1 sales, do you need to show proof of having a Visa Card at any point before invitations to purchase are sent out? Or will they send invitations to purchase to anyone without knowing whether or not they are a Visa cardholder?
Great questions! I am also very curious about number 1. They still have come out and stated third party sites are not official and to beware. I wonder if they’ll let people try to sell at their own price on FIFA site. So many questions. Very little answers. But soon we will find out.
For number two, in past tournaments, to purchase you had to use the card at that time. Perhaps during registration stages during 10-19 Sept, they’ll have a verification where you enter the card you want to use. Can think of those two methods.
Appreciate the visit and questions.
thank you sir
Looking for two tickets to buy for the opening for the world cup in Toronto.
I like to know way the location in Toronto the opening of the world cup address will be held .
I like to know way to buy two tickets 🎟 for the opening for the world cup .
Very helpful, thanks so much for doing the leg work and sharing the information to the rest of us! I read somewhere someone would make several FIFA ID’s using basically the breadth of their families’ email accounts (or just make them up I suppose) to sign up for the lottery. And then if they are able to win a lottery, great. in the event they get too many ‘winnings’ of the lottery they can just opt not to accept, but it increases their odds of a chance at winning the lottery. Do you have any thoughts on this?
Hi John:
Appreciate the supportive message! I’ve heard of people doing something similar but have no idea how useful it is. I tried to find the regulations from 2022 and 2023 as I believe I read only 1 household member can apply but that may be in regards to something else. I’m looking forward to the announcement later this summer to see how FIFA will go about 2026 applications. Good luck with your ticket allotment!
When you say the Lottery is random, is there a max amount of tickets you can request for the lottery? I am assuming it would be harder to get 4 tickets over only entering the lottery looking for 2 tickets. Or is it still equal opportunity? Using USA games as an example. I am assuming it will be very hard to get tickets. Am I able to enter the Lottery for all 3 Games and make Seattle my priority? And make the LA games Plan B and C?
Hi Jimmy! Yes. There is a limit but it’s fairly liberal. Each tournament is different. I may try and check if I can find 2022 or 2023 limits if they aren’t already posted in those articles. But I believe it was a limit of 60 tickets and 6 tickets per match. You can apply to all 3 matches for USA but typically after the lottery phase, you have to pay for entire allotment or nothing. Meaning, if you get allocated B and C then you pay for those and can’t only select B. FIFA then typically has a resale portal where you can list B for sale if you only want C and you get your money back that way. Your question about chances and probability of getting 2 tickets vs 4 is one that only FIFA knows. I do know that FIFA doesn’t guarantee that all tickets are seated near one another (seat assignments are done like a month before tournament starts) so one could guess that helps but I also assume that it does in fact increase chances if you want less tickets. Most tournaments, I’m requesting a ticket for myself only and am quite lucky. But 2026 I will request 4 and am under belief that will be more difficult. Hopefully that helps answer your question?
How difficult will it be to get tickets to a us game and how do we increase our chances of getting tickets for that game? Also the match calendar says the USA’s location and dates for their specific games so could you buy tickets to their game in phase 1???
Hello! A ticket to a USA match in 2026 will likely be very difficult. You are correct that you can request USA tickets in Phase 1 given that the schedule for the host countries is already announced. Each federation is granted tickets for the World Cup so you can always look into US Soccer to see what membership levels they have an how their membership affects chances of receiving tickets from their allocation. Outside of that, there’s not much else you can do for standard tickets. If you have a high budget, then you can also go for the hospitality route or luxury package provider. There will be limited allocation of those tickets as well but there will be a much lower demand for these – and – they aren’t done by lottery.
Hello It’s me again, So I know you haven’t reveled yet but with Cristiano Ronaldo be playing in US Washington Seattle? And is there a way to get discounts on tickets? one more question, I’ve heard Messi Isn’t attending 2026 world cup is this true? I’m a big fan thanks for taking your time to reply to our questions.
Hello! Team locations will not be revealed until the draw which will likely take place in December 2025 (yes, 2025). At that point we’ll all learn the matches and cities and can start solidifying plans. Can’t answer the Messi question as only he knows the answer. And regarding seats and prices – the prices are typically broken into categories based on center, corners and behind the goal “categories”. The first row and last row of a category can be the same price. I explain a bit more here: https://www.theworldcupguide.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=3719&action=edit#pricing-is-split-into-3-to-4-categories
Okay thank you, I’ll be checking back next year and my family are definitely going to a game, could you tell me when can we start purchasing tickets? Thank you for responding.
No problem! The best way to stay informed is to sign-up (it’s free) for our newsletter community. We publish curated content once a month about the World Cup, plus, will add in ad-hoc alerts to those that subscribed.
Here’s the link to subscribe: https://theworldcupguide.beehiiv.com/subscribe
Where are the seats based on the price?
Thanks for all the info above, I have a question: Suppose Main buy total 3 tickets, 1 for them and 2 for guests and the main can’t go to the USA because of Visa issue. Can the main resell the ticket on fifa resale platform? also would like to know if there will be upgrade in the Visa system(i.e making the process fast),
Good questions! In a typical tournament (b/c FIFA can always change their stance) – if the main applicant can no longer attend, the main applicant cannot put their ticket up for resale on the resale platform. All the tickets are linked to that persons account and they can’t transfer that information to someone else. You can always update the owner of the guest tickets (until the guest “accepts” the ticket – which doesn’t happen until weeks before it starts) but not the main applicant.
Regarding the visa – no news yet. FIFA wants the tournament to be seen as a success but has 3 different governments to work with on these regulations. Given the recent tournaments, I would assume a World Cup specific visa for ticket holders would be in the conversations but nothing concrete from FIFA yet.
Very informative post, thank you. One question: Will “main applicants” be able to re-assign “guest applicant” tickets, once they are allocated? And, could one main applicant (A) who gets tickets, reassign them to another main applicant (B) who doesn’t? For the 2014 World Cup, me and my family were Boy Scouts, I was main applicant and my wife and kids were three guests. When we actually told other World Cup attendees about that, they sort of chuckled–most of them had “placeholder” applicants who never intended to attend, they just multiplied their chances.
Hi Bruce! Thanks!
Yes. A main applicant can reassign guests. Once the tournament is closed, in Qatar and Australia, it was just a few weeks before tournament started – the tickets are allocated. So the main receives them and sends to guests. Once sent and received by guest, I believe the guest would have to return the ticket back. But again, you can’t actually gift someone the ticket til almost when matches start anyways. You don’t have to assign the guests until later anyways.
A main applicant cannot technically assign/allocate to another main. So if you buy one ticket, there’s no way to assign a new person a ticket. I saw people in this situation letting the “new main” applicant log into the mobile app with the username and password.
I did not understand your “B” follow up.
This is spoken from last two years and FIFA can always tweak it for 2026.
Hope this helps!
In which phase are the team specific tickets released?
Hi! Thanks for the message. I believe it is during Phase 1, before the draw.
Very useful post, thank you for taking the time to write it out.
Thanks for reading and the comments! Makes it worthwhile
Do matches ever sell out during the random lottery phase? Or does FIFA always reserve some tickets exclusively for the first come, first serve phase of sales?
Hi Mike! Great question – while no one ever really knows FIFA’s plans with allocation, there’s always tickets left in reserve for the future allocation rounds and matches. That said, some matches will sell out (e.g. Final) and not be available until latter stages of the tournament. Once the tournament starts, we always see an influx of tickets appear hours before kickoff, sometimes a day or so before. In fact, we saw Argentina vs France final in Qatar reappear on the FIFA site the day of the match. Heads up – the process of applying for tickets on the site will be one of the most frustrating experiences. 🙂 You’ll see what we mean but there’s always hope. The best thing FIFA does is reimburse fans that cannot attend matches by utilizing a “resale” portal. That means fans can purchase previously sold tickets on the FIFA site, officially, without a price increase. They also do a decent job in minimizing the secondhand market to encourage people to use the “resale portal”.
Very informative. Please share updates.
Thanks, Rick! We’ll certainly be updating as we learn more! Exciting to have a firm schedule! We’ll be posting some thoughts and analysis on the schedule in the coming days, too.
This is very informative and helpful.
Thank you