But there’s one other topic dominating the headlines: the insidious cost of attending a game.
A culture of high-priced sport
Attending major sporting events is already costlier in North America than in the remaining of the world, and the football association appears to be taking inspiration from a number of the worst practices on the continent.
FIFA has introduced dynamic pricing, a system where prices increase as demand increases. And to top all of it off, the umbrella organization also took over management of the resale market. The move is harking back to music ticketing giant Ticketmaster, which controversially operates in primary and secondary markets.
The result’s by far the most costly World Cup we’ve got ever seen. Canada’s opening game against Bosnia and Herzegovina had nominal prices of $486 CAD to $2,391 CADwith tickets being sold at even higher prices on the secondary market. Games for the ultimate in New York City at the moment are selling for prices between CAD 15,400 and CAD 33,500.
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To put these prices into context, for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, locals could purchase tickets for $11 USD ($15.37 CAD). The most costly ticket for the ultimate was $1,607 (CAD$224.53).
And if we have a look at club football, in France you may occasionally buy an all-season ticket to see Paris Saint Germain (PSG), a team widely considered among the finest on the earth €460 and €1,320 ($744 to $2,135 CAD). This means you may not even get a ticket for a single game on this World Cup.
Will ticket prices go down?
Against this background, one might assume that each one hopes of watching the World Cup live are over – but perhaps not. If you need to watch football live, we recommend you control the ticketing web sites until the games close. This means the FIFA website in addition to Ticketmaster, SeatGeek and Stubhub.
While FIFA appears to be focused on making as much money as possible, it is probably going that FIFA has overestimated the demand for some games. Cabo Verde vs Saudi Arabia, for instance, simply won’t have the identical interest as more distinguished games. And FIFA has done this up to now.
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In 2025, FIFA hosted the Club World Cup, where a few of one of the best club teams on the earth competed. In a game, ticket prices fell from USD 473.90 (CAD 662.20) to USD 13.40 (CAD 18.73) in three days..
Although the World Cup is more prestigious than the Club World Cup, FIFA is prone to face a difficult decision within the lead-up to a few of these games: lower ticket prices or leave some stadiums half-empty, which would not be search for the tv cameras.
In Canada, this might particularly come into query for games in Vancouver, where the stadium has a 20% larger capability but town has lower than half the population of Toronto. Don’t be surprised when you can rating a comparatively low cost ticket to games at BC Place on the identical day.
Which games might be discounted?
Demand was definitely high for Canada’s game against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Toronto on Friday, June 12; Even when you were on the lookout for last minute tickets, it could have been difficult to seek out a reduction there.
Given the relative footballing strengths of those countries, discounts for Ghana against Panama on June seventeenth and Senegal against Iraq on June twenty sixth seem very likely.
The Canadian team’s game against strong opponents Switzerland on June 24 in Vancouver is anticipated to draw essentially the most demand, while New Zealand against Egypt on June 21 is anticipated to be the least in demand.
Why demand might not be as high as FIFA thinks
Outside of Mexico, soccer will not be the dominant sport in North America. In Canada, hockey is widely considered more popular, while Americans prefer soccer and basketball. This is significant because demand for this World Cup is anticipated to rely heavily on domestic fans.
For many international supporters, the appeal could also be less obvious. Fans in countries like England and Spain have already got access to top-level football at a fraction of the fee. As a result, only the wealthiest or most dedicated supporters could also be willing to make the journey to North America.
