After record demand, the international body created a new category of more affordable tickets for the 104 matches of the next World Cup
In addition, the international body announced a measure that seeks to ease fans' expenses. Those who request tickets through their association and whose national team is eliminated in the group stage won't have to pay the administrative fee in the event of a refund.
The random selection process to access the tickets is already open and will remain available until Tuesday, January 13, 2026. The moment when the request is submitted doesn't affect the chances of being selected. All information and registration for the draw are carried out through FIFA's official ticket sales website.
In parallel with this measure, FIFA released the ranking of countries that requested the most tickets for the next World Cup event. According to figures published after the opening of the third sales phase (already with the official schedule published), Argentina ranked in fifth place in the global ranking of requests, with around 101,056 applications for one of the tournament's matches.
Ahead of Argentina were Colombia, which led with 367,376 requests, followed by England (140,291) and Germany (138,246), while Brazil was just above Argentina, with 101,576 requested tickets. This FIFA survey doesn't include the three host countries.
Attending 2026 World Cup appears as an economic challenge for thousands of fans, especially after the high initial ticket prices became known, which even included seats for the final at more than 6,000 dollars. In that context, FIFA announced a measure that aims to balance access and address the strong demand: the creation of a new ticket category with considerably lower prices.
The initiative is called "basic stand" and includes tickets at 60 dollars for the 104 matches of the tournament, including the final. The decision was made after the organization received more than 20 million requests in the first sales phase.
Unlike other instances, FIFA won't distribute these tickets directly. The responsibility will lie with the participating member associations, which will have to define the allocation criteria and the application process. The organization clarified that the associations will have the obligation to prioritize the most loyal fans of each national team.
According to the reported scheme, 50% of the total number of tickets allocated to each association will correspond to the most affordable categories: 40% will be affordable stand and 10% will be the new basic stand. The rest of the seats will be divided between standard and premium seats.
