FIFA (International Football Federation) created a new ticket category for the 2026 World Cup two months before the tournament, a move that some fans consider an attempt to profit more from the best seats.
During the autumn and winter, world football’s governing body sold millions of tickets for the World Cup in four categories. Category 1, the most expensive, appeared to cover all seats and sections of the stadium’s lower stands, according to color-coded maps posted on the ticket portal. Fans paid hundreds or thousands of dollars for these tickets and waited for seats to be assigned.
FIFA delivered these definitions earlier this month. It converted tickets categorized into specific rows and sectors, leaving many buyers disappointed with seats in the corners, behind the goals or further away from the pitch.
Then, FIFA began selling seats in the first rows of the lower stands at higher prices — in some cases, double the price of a standard Category 1 ticket.
Frustrated fans, in interviews and messages to The Athletic, suspected that FIFA had given them worse seats so it could sell better ones at higher prices. But at the time, they didn’t have concrete proof.
The new category essentially confirms your suspicions.
“This is just another example of how misleading the original maps were,” wrote one fan, Ben Kurzman, in an email. FIFA, he said, “let people believe that by buying Category 1 tickets they could end up in a lower side sector close to the pitch, when that would never happen.”
The new “Category 1 Front” had not been previously announced or mentioned. From an initial pre-sale phase in October until March, the regular “Category 1” was sold as the most expensive ticket, with prices ranging from US$10,990 (R$55,195) for the World Cup final to US$450 (R$2,260) for some group stage games. Maps shown to buyers suggested that these tickets could guarantee seats anywhere in the 100-level section or, in most stadiums, in middle sections with good visibility.
Separately, however, FIFA had been selling hospitality packages at even higher prices. And his illustrations of hospitality “seating examples” suggest that many of the lower side sectors supposedly included in Category 1 were, in fact, being reserved for purchasers of the hospitality packages.
Upon realizing that almost no Category 1 ticket holders had been allocated these coveted side sections, many fans were furious.
“A lot of people feel cheated, confused or just plain disappointed with how the seats were allocated,” Jordan Likover, one of the aggrieved fans, told The Athletic.
On Wednesday, FIFA went further. It released new batches of tickets and, for at least 20 games, listed these new Category 1 Front and/or Category 2 Front seats in the first rows of certain sectors.
For the Algeria-Austria game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, dozens of second-row seats in all four corners of the stadium were being sold for $900 each — double the price of a standard Category 1 ticket which, if purchased this winter, would apparently have been eligible for those same seats.
Prices were similar for other matches. For Canada’s opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 12, a Category 1 Front seat — in row 5 of a side section near the corner of Toronto’s BMO Field — cost US$3,360 (R$16,874), up from US$2,240 (R$11,249) for a regular Category 1 ticket.
For the United States v Paraguay game at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles on the same day, a seat in Category 1 Front, in row 7 of a corner sector, cost US$4,105 (R$20,616) — above the standard Category 1 price that has already turned away many avid fans, US$2,730 (R$13,710).
In more than a dozen games, the Category 1Frontal price was exactly double the standard Category 1 price. For the Uruguay v Saudi Arabia game in Miami, this meant an increase from US$600 (R$3,013) to US$1,200 (R$6,026) for a low seat behind one of the goals. For Cape Verde x Saudi Arabia in Houston, Uzbekistan x Congo in Atlanta and other less popular games, the price for the “front” seats rose to US$900 (R$4,520), compared to the previous US$450 (R$2,260).
Front Category 2 seats, at the front of less desirable sectors, were also being offered at smaller surcharges.
The Athletic asked FIFA about why these seats were not simply allocated to fans who applied for Category 1 or 2 tickets in this winter’s random draw — given that FIFA said it had received more than 500 million ticket requests. FIFA did not immediately respond.
It also did not explain why the new category was created, nor why it was appropriate to previously advertise Category 1 as if it gave buyers the chance to get any seat in any coveted sector.
In an emailed statement on Tuesday in response to a series of questions asked last week, a FIFA spokesperson said the “category maps” were intended to “help fans understand where their seats might be located within the stadium.”
“These maps were created as a guide and not to show the exact seating arrangement, reflecting the general extent of each ticket category within the stadium,” the spokesperson said.
FIFA has not said how many of these “front” seats it intends to sell, nor how many tickets are still available for the 2026 World Cup. It appears to be releasing new batches without prior notice, on an ongoing basis.
In recent interviews, fans harshly criticized the entity for the lack of transparency and other aspects of the ticket sales process.
“FIFA has no sympathy for fans,” said Andrew Swart, a New York fan who said his Category 1 ticket — purchased for $862.50 on FIFA’s resale website — won him a seat in a section that was previously reserved for Category 2. “Our initial assumption is that they are doing something to act dishonestly or to maximize profit.”
FIFA has consistently defended its pricing and approach as a reflection of North American standards and “extraordinary” demand, and noted that, as a non-profit organization, it reinvests much of World Cup revenue into football development around the world.
