FIFA President Gianni Infantino defended ticket prices for next year’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, citing the high demand and revenue generated for the sport around the world.
This month, fan groups criticized the price of tickets, which are considerably more expensive than those for matches in the 2022 edition. FIFA then launched a category of tickets at US$60 (R$332) to make the games more accessible to fans of the qualified teams.
“We have six to seven million tickets for sale… in 15 days, we received 150 million ticket requests. That is, 10 million ticket requests every day. This shows the power of the World Cup”, said Infantino this Monday (29), during the World Sports Summit in Dubai.
“In the nearly 100-year history of the World Cup, FIFA has sold 44 million tickets in total. So in two weeks… we could have sold out 300 years of World Cups. Just imagine. That’s absolutely incredible.”
Fans from the United States were the ones who requested the most tickets, followed by Germany and the United Kingdom, said the FIFA president.
“The most important thing is that the revenue generated from this is reinvested in football around the world,” he added.
“Without FIFA, there would be no football in 150 countries. Football exists thanks to this revenue generated by the World Cup, which we reinvest around the world.”
Dubai will host the FIFA The Best in 2026 awards
Dubai will host the Fifa The Best awards ceremony next year.
The award honors the best players, coaches and teams, both male and female, chosen by fans, media representatives, captains and coaches of national teams.
“I am pleased to announce a new partnership we have entered into to honor the best players, coaches and teams here in Dubai,” said Infantino.
“We enjoy sport and now we will enjoy even more the unity it brings to the whole world.”
French striker Ousmane Dembélé was named player of the year in men’s football and Spanish midfielder Aitana Bonmati won the award in women’s football in 2025.
