With about a month to go until kick-off, many World Cup matches still have unsold tickets and it is unclear whether any games have genuinely sold out. Expectations of overwhelming demand — once described by FIFA president Gianni Infantino as the equivalent of “1,000 years of World Cups at once” — have not materialized for international travel and ticket sales.
Gilad Zilberman, CEO of secondary-market comparison site SeatPick, told DW he expects prices to fall. His company’s data, which tracks major resellers such as Viagogo and StubHub, showed that by the end of April the secondary market was cheaper in roughly 72% of matches where comparable figures were available. A recent report from the American Hotel and Lodging Association found nearly 80% of hotel bookings across host cities running below initial forecasts, a shortfall it attributed largely to fewer international visitors.
Several practical barriers are weighing on demand: visa issues, high air fares and other logistical challenges mean many fans abroad are being priced or blocked out. That points toward stadiums being filled primarily by fans from the host nations — the United States, Mexico and Canada — who can travel more easily and may be willing to wait for last-minute price drops.
This tournament has introduced new ticketing approaches. FIFA says it is using a form of dynamic pricing, setting and adjusting prices by its own rules rather than relying on automated algorithms. It has also launched an official secondary market, where ballot winners may resell tickets at whatever price they can get, with FIFA taking a 15% cut from both buyer and seller. That platform has produced eye-catching listings, including a ticket posted for about $2.3 million, illustrating how large fees could translate into big revenue for the governing body.
Face-value top prices for the final were set at $11,000; FIFA projects roughly $3 billion in ticketing and hospitality receipts. Infantino has defended the approach by pointing to mature entertainment markets and the prevalence of resale in the US, arguing that low primary prices are quickly arbitraged to higher resale levels.
But market watchers say FIFA may be misreading demand and overplaying its ability to manage dynamic pricing. Zilberman argues FIFA is “leaving money on the table” by not adopting a lower face-price strategy that could stimulate secondary-market activity and fill seats, and that in practice FIFA is attempting to emulate reseller pricing while maximizing its own take. He suggested the organization has been releasing tickets in staged batches to provoke spikes in demand and fine-tune prices.
Legal and regulatory shifts are already affecting resale dynamics. Ontario passed a law banning resale of event tickets above face value, limiting how much secondary prices can rise for matches in Toronto. Meanwhile, fan groups and consumer advocates have filed complaints with regulators about FIFA’s ticketing strategy.
Looking ahead to the 2030 World Cup in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, analysts expect the market will be different. Secondary platforms and resale culture are far more developed in the US than in those markets, so replicating the same pricing outcomes may be harder. For now, though, many traveling supporters who hoped to go have largely been priced out or deterred by logistics, and may find any price drops come too late.
Humor aside — Infantino joked he would personally bring a hot dog and a Coke to anyone who paid millions for a final ticket — the unfolding market suggests a mismatch between FIFA’s revenue ambitions and the current appetite of global travelers.