"You Need 4.18 Million Won to See the Final"... World Cup Tickets Too Expensive, Fans Protest to FIFA

With the 2026 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup in North and Central America now three months away, Football Supporters Europe (FSE) has lodged an official complaint with FIFA, arguing that World Cup tickets are far too expensive.
According to reports on the 24th (local time) by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and others, FSE, together with the European consumer organization Euroconsumers, protested that FIFA abused its dominant position when setting World Cup ticket prices.
FSE stated, "In the run-up to the World Cup, European fans have been subjected to excessive ticket prices and opaque, unfair purchasing conditions and procedures," adding, "We have filed a complaint with the European Commission (EC)."
It went on to argue, "FIFA holds an exclusive monopoly over ticket sales for the 2026 World Cup and has used that power to impose conditions on fans that would never be tolerated in a competitive market."
A ticket for the North and Central America World Cup final currently costs 4,185 dollars (about 4.18 million won), more than seven times the price of a ticket for the final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
In response, FSE urged FIFA to abandon its demand-based dynamic pricing policy and to freeze prices when the next batch of tickets is released in April.
For greater transparency, it also called on FIFA to inform buyers at least 48 hours in advance about seat availability and locations by category.
A FIFA official commented, "We are aware of the remarks expressing dissatisfaction, but we have not received an official complaint," adding, "We are not in a position to comment further."
The official added, "We are focused on ensuring that both existing and potential fans have fair access to matches," and noted, "As a non-profit organization, FIFA reinvests the revenue generated by the World Cup into its 211 member associations worldwide to support their development."
The 23rd FIFA World Cup will be co-hosted this year by the United States of America (U.S.), Mexico and Canada over 39 days from June 12 to July 20 (Korea time). It will be the first jointly hosted World Cup in 24 years, since the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
According to FIFA, about 7 million tickets are expected to be sold for this tournament.
If one person wants to attend one match in each round of the World Cup, for a total of eight games, the cheapest tickets would cost around 5,225 pounds (about 10.5 million won), mid-range tickets about 8,580 pounds (about 17.2 million won), and the most expensive tickets about 12,350 pounds (around 24.76 million won).
newssu@fnnews.com Kim Su-yeon Reporter