FIFA has annulled World Cup tickets that were mistakenly given to approximately 60 fans at no cost due to a glitch on its website. Now, the governing body of soccer is requiring these fans to pay the full price for their tickets.
The organization stated on Thursday that the tickets were “allocated at no charge [0 USD] due to a prior payment issue during the checkout process.” They expressed regret for the mistake and any trouble it may have caused.
FIFA confirmed, “The tickets requested by these fans remain reserved, and the affected fans have been invited to complete payment of the correct amount.” This incident marks the latest issue in a frequently criticized World Cup ticketing system, currently under scrutiny by the attorneys general of New York and New Jersey for possible breaches of consumer protection regulations.
The erroneous tickets were sold through the official World Cup website on May 21, as per an email sent to the buyers. Notably, this date was over three months after FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced that all 104 World Cup matches were fully booked.
FIFA continues to sell tickets for the upcoming World Cup, which begins next Thursday in Mexico City. However, it remains uncertain whether tickets for less popular matches will see a reduction in price under FIFA’s surge pricing model, which has faced backlash from fans.
Additionally, FIFA has established its own resale platform and is taking a 15% commission from both buyers and sellers to eliminate ticket brokers from the market. Despite this, other sales platforms like Seat Geek were seen offering ample availability on Friday for various matches.
Tickets for the 2026 World Cup are considerably more expensive than in previous tournaments, a rise FIFA attributes to generating billions of dollars that will be distributed to member federations for the development of soccer worldwide.
FIFA has taken charge of ticket pricing and distribution as part of its effort to manage World Cup operations internally. Historically, previous tournaments relied on collaborations with local organizing committees of host nations. When the United States, Canada, and Mexico secured hosting rights in 2018, they pledged to sell hundreds of thousands of tickets for group-stage matches at a price of $21 each.
