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They all know the value of this tournament and are going to milk it for all that it's worth

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Last updated: 29 Oct 2025

FIFA, the world body governing soccer, is set to cash in big time on the hugely inflated prices of scalped tickets to next year’s World Cup in North America.

The men’s football tournament will take place in June and July 2026 in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The majority of the games will be played in the USA, where there are no federal laws limiting the price of reselling tickets.

Tickets to the World Cup, which began being released in limited presale phases last month, can only be resold through FIFA’s official website and the body itself is set to profit massively off the scalping of tickets by charging both the seller a 15% fee and the buyer another 15% fee, effectively making $30 off every $100 of tickets sold.

“FIFA is clipping the ticket both ways – this will drive up prices for real fans and shows they have no interest in equity or access,” says David Rowe, emeritus professor of cultural research at the Western Sydney University.

“It’s not good news for your everyday sports fan, but of course, it’s very good news for FIFA’s coffers.”

USA’s ‘Wild West’ of ticketing

While Mexico does have laws prohibiting the reselling of tickets at marked up prices, the USA, where the majority of games including the quarter finals, semi-finals and final are being played, does not.

At previous World Cups, FIFA limited the reselling of tickets to face value and took a smaller percentage in resale fees.