FIFA seemed to encounter technical issues when it restarted World Cup ticket sales on Wednesday after finalizing the 48-team lineup.
The governing body of soccer did not specify which matches and pricing tiers were available.
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Individuals who accessed what FIFA termed its “last-minute sales phase” at 11 a.m. ET were placed in a queue for the “PMA late qualifier supporters sales phase,” intended for fans of the six nations that secured spots on Tuesday.
FIFA appeared to have extensive wait times for ticket purchases, with those who entered the queue at the beginning still waiting to proceed 90 minutes later.
FIFA did not provide an explanation for the link misdirection but stated around noon that the links were functioning correctly.
FIFA also indicated that not all remaining tickets were available for the 104 matches scheduled in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada from June 11 to July 19, and that additional tickets would be released gradually.
This marked the fifth phase of ticket sales following a Visa presale draw from Sept. 10-19, an early ticket draw from Oct. 27-31, a random selection draw from Dec. 11 to Jan. 13, and an unplanned 48-hour availability in late February.
FIFA noted that this phase, which will continue throughout the tournament, was the first instance where a specific seat location could be purchased instead of merely requesting a ticket in a category.
FIFA is implementing dynamic pricing for the tournament, which will take place in 11 U.S. cities, along with three in Mexico and two in Canada.
During the month-long sales phase following the Dec. 5 draw, ticket prices ranged from $140 to $8,680. In response to complaints, FIFA announced that $60 tickets would be allocated to each participating national federation for their most dedicated supporters, likely amounting to 400-700 per team for each match.
“The use of dynamic ticket pricing for the 2026 FWC sharply contrasts with FIFA’s fundamental mission to foster accessible and inclusive promotion and development of soccer worldwide,” 69 Democratic members of Congress expressed in a letter to FIFA president Gianni Infantino on March 10. “Despite the cooperation of host cities in realizing the vision of the largest, most global World Cup in history, the implications of dynamic pricing will render the 2026 FWC the most financially exclusionary and inaccessible to date.”
FIFA also operates its own resale market, taking a 15% commission from both the buyer and seller.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Congo DR, Czechia, Iraq, Sweden, and TΓΌrkiye completed the World Cup lineup. Supporters of teams eliminated on Tuesday could attempt to resell tickets they had previously purchased, including nations such as Italy, Poland, Denmark, Jamaica, and Bolivia.
Infantino claimed in January that the volume of ticket requests FIFA had received was equivalent to “the request for 1,000 years of World Cups at once.”
“This is unique,” he remarked at that time. “It’s incredible.”
It remained uncertain whether many of those requests were for seats in the lowest-price tiers.
Fan organizations have expressed concerns regarding the escalating costs of resold tickets, and one has filed a formal complaint with the European Commission last month.
Infantino defended FIFA’s share of resales, asserting that the governing body was engaged in a legal commercial activity under U.S. law. Some European nations have regulations that may limit resale by mandating tickets to be sold at face value or only through authorized partners of the event organizers.
