FIFA has canceled World Cup tickets inadvertently issued to about 60 fans due to a website glitch that resulted in tickets being allocated for $0. The tickets were assigned “with a price of USD 0 due to a previously unresolved payment issue during the checkout process,” FIFA said in a statement on Thursday.
The world football governing body added: “FIFA regrets this error and any inconvenience caused. The tickets that these fans requested remain reserved, and the affected individuals have been invited to complete the payment for the correct amount.”
This is the latest glitch in the often-controversial World Cup ticketing program, which is already being investigated by the attorneys general of New York and New Jersey over possible consumer protection violations.
According to an email FIFA sent to buyers, the mispriced tickets were sold through the official World Cup website on May 21. That date came more than three months after FIFA President Gianni Infantino declared all 104 World Cup matches sold out.
FIFA continues to sell tickets for World Cup matches, with the tournament set to kick off next Thursday in Mexico City. It remains unclear whether prices for lower-demand matches will drop under FIFA’s dynamic pricing model, which has drawn criticism from fans.
FIFA is also operating its own resale platform, charging a 15% commission from both buyers and sellers, to eliminate ticket agents from the market. However, resale platforms such as SeatGeek still offered widely available tickets for many matches on Friday.
2026 World Cup tickets are far more expensive than any previous edition, a move FIFA justifies as necessary to generate billions of dollars to distribute to member associations for global football development. FIFA has taken control of ticket pricing and sales as part of bringing World Cup operations in-house; in previous tournaments, it worked with local organizing committees in host nations.
When the football federations of the United States, Canada, and Mexico won hosting rights in 2018, they promised to sell hundreds of thousands of tickets for $21 each for group-stage matches. FIFA has since sold official front-row seats for the final at $32,970.
