Fan Access Category will have tickets priced at US$60 for any match, including the final, and will be aimed exclusively at fans of the qualified teams
The creation of a new category of tickets for the tournament is not only a response to record demand — 20 million requests in the current sales phase — but also a direct consequence of the tournament’s unprecedented format, which will be played simultaneously in three countries: Canada, Mexico and, mostly, the United States.
Of the 104 games in the competition, most will be held in North American territory, where transportation, accommodation and food costs are significantly higher than in previous World Cups. This factor is especially important for foreign fans, who will need to travel long distances domestically and deal with high prices to follow their teams throughout the tournament.
It is in this context that the Fan Access Category was announced, with tickets priced at US$60, something around 330 reais, for any match, including the final. The initiative seeks to mitigate the financial impact for the most loyal fans, who intend to follow their teams between different cities and countries during the competition.
The new category will be aimed exclusively at fans of the qualified teams and will have its distribution managed by the national federations (PMA). Each entity will define its own request and selection criteria, ensuring that tickets reach those who actually have ties to the team, and not just the occasional public attracted by the event in the United States.
Within each federation’s quota, 50% of tickets will be from more accessible categories, 40% from the Fan Value Category and 10% from the Access Category. The remainder will be divided equally between the Standard and Premier categories, with higher values, reflecting the predominant market profile in the country that will host the majority of matches.
Furthermore, FIFA announced that fans linked to federations whose teams do not advance to the knockout stages will not pay an administrative fee when refunding unfulfilled requests — a recognition of the uncertainties involved in a long, expensive and geographically spread tournament.
With games spread across 16 host cities and great distances between them, the 2026 World Cup poses an unprecedented logistical challenge to ordinary fans. The new pricing policy therefore appears as an attempt to balance a global event hosted largely in the United States with the need to maintain the grandstand environment traditionally associated with World Cups.
*This text does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Jovem Pan.
