FIFA President Gianni Infantino has justified the higher ticket prices for the 2026 World Cup, pointing to an unprecedented surge in demand that saw 150 million requests in just 15 days.
Speaking at the World Sports Summit in Dubai on December 29, 2025, Infantino highlighted the scale of interest in the expanded 48-team tournament, co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, 2026.
“We have six to seven million tickets on sale, and in 15 days we received 150 million ticket requests,” Infantino said. “So, 10 million ticket requests every single day. It shows how powerful the World Cup is.”
He compared the figures to historical sales: “In almost 100 years of the World Cup, FIFA has sold 44 million tickets in total. So, in two weeks, we could have filled 300 years of World Cups. This is absolutely crazy.”
Infantino emphasised that all revenues would support global football development. “What is important and crucial is that the revenues generated from this are going back to the game all over the world,” he stated. “Without FIFA, there will be no football in 150 countries in the world. There is football thanks to these revenues that we generate from the World Cup, which we reinvest all over the world.”
The comments mark Infantino’s first public response to criticism that emerged earlier in December when ticket prices were announced. Fan groups, led by Football Supporters Europe (FSE), labelled the costs “extortionate” and a “monumental betrayal,” noting that some prices are up to five times higher than those for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
FSE called for a halt to ticket sales, arguing that the pricing structure, including dynamic pricing and limited allocations for national team supporters, risks excluding dedicated fans and diminishing stadium atmospheres.
In response to the backlash, FIFA introduced a limited “Supporter Entry Tier” with tickets priced at $60 for fans of participating teams across all 104 matches, though these represent only a small fraction of the total inventory.
The current sales phase, a random selection draw open until January 13, 2026, has driven the massive request volume, with most applications coming from the United States, followed by Germany and Britain, according to Infantino.
As the first World Cup with 48 teams and three host nations, the 2026 edition promises greater accessibility in terms of venues but has sparked debate over affordability. FIFA maintains that commercial success enables investments in football across its 211 member associations, including youth and women’s programmes.
