Anticipation for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup is continuing to build – with less than a week to go, all eyes are on the US, Canada and Mexico to see how the tournament will play out.
But among the excitement has been a growing apprehension around ticket sales, with FIFA now being accused of working alongside unofficial resale platforms to sell tickets for low-demand World Cup games.
The claims, published in The Times yesterday (03 June), have suggested that the global football organisation is selling tickets via the unofficial platforms to avoid compensation claims from fans that had already paid face value for tickets.
An influx of tickets being sold for Saudi Arabia’s match against Cape Verde on SeatGeek, a ticket resale platform, was flagged by Florian Ederer, an Economics Professor at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, which has raised questions about where the tickets had originated from.
I believe we now have evidence of FIFA's World Cup ticketing shell game: FIFA is colluding with third-party resale platforms for its own supply management.
— Florian Ederer (@florianederer) June 2, 2026
Look at this SeatGeek map (secondary market!) for Saudi Arabia vs Cape Verde. The circled areas are not random single… pic.twitter.com/qcqrp2SDa0
Ederer had raised concerns that the tickets, priced at $700 (£521) on FIFA’s official resale website are now appearing on SeatGeek for a much lower price of $200 (£149).
Not only is it the lower prices of tickets, but Ederer also questioned how it is rare for large clusters of seats to appear, all at once. This, he said, raises the question of whether there may be some form of collusion between FIFA and SeatGeek.
He wrote: “Why doesn’t FIFA just lower prices on its own site? Probably because official price cuts could trigger refund demands, chargebacks, or consumer-protection headaches from fans who already bought at much higher prices.
“Instead, FIFA keeps official prices high, avoids openly admitting the market-clearing price is lower, and moves unsold inventory through third-party resale platforms instead.”
However, the accusations have been vehemently denied by SeatGeek, refuting any form of collaboration with FIFA to undercut official ticket prices.
A spokesperson for SeatGeek told the Press Association: “SeatGeek is a trusted marketplace that gives fans secure access to tickets across tens of thousands of live events, including the World Cup. We do not have a partnership or distribution agreement with Fifa.”
Ongoing ticketing controversy
This year’s FIFA World Cup has faced its fair share of criticism: from US President Donald Trump being awarded an inaugural peace prize despite his ongoing military action in the Middle East, to the government’s crackdown on immigration sparking safety concerns, this has arguably been one of the most controversial World Cups to date.
FIFA’s decision to adopt a dynamic ticket pricing strategy is one that has attracted wide-spread criticism too. While the football organisation operates its own resale platform, which takes a 15% fee from both the buyer and seller of each ticket, many fans have been left feeling like attending a game is simply too costly.
However, Gianni Infantino – FIFA President – defended its pricing strategy, stating that it was in line with expectations for the North American market.
“We have to look at the market – we are in the market in which entertainment is the most developed in the world. So we have to apply market rates,” Infantino said at a conference in Beverly Hills.
A recent report in The Athletic also revealed that FIFA had been delaying payments to those who had resold their World Cup tickets via the official FIFA resale platform, with some fans having to wait several months for their money.
The majority of fans do appear to have received their money … eventually. However, many were left waiting longer than the 60-day deadline that FIFA had committed in its “Ticket Transfer and Resale Terms” document.
Responding to the resale payment delays, FIFA said: “While the majority of cases are completed as expected, some more complex cases require additional review and therefore take longer to process. Payment timelines can also be affected where customer-provided information, such as bank details, is incomplete or requires further verification.
“FIFA remains committed to processing all payments as efficiently as possible while maintaining the highest standards of accuracy, security, and compliance.”
With less than a week to go until the World Cup gets underway, it may be a bit late for FIFA to adapt its ticket pricing system.
