FA withholds cheapest England tickets until matchday to block World Cup resale surge

The Football Association has drawn praise for a deliberate strategy to hold back its cheapest allocation of England tickets for the 2026 World Cup until the day before each match, directly targeting the resale market that has overshadowed the tournament’s build-up.

England open their World Cup campaign on Wednesday against Croatia, with thousands of supporters travelling to back Thomas Tuchel’s side. Hundreds of ‘entry tier’ tickets priced at $60 (£45) will be made available through the FA, but only released the day before kick-off — a measure designed to stop them appearing on secondary sites at heavily marked-up prices.

The move comes amid widespread criticism of FIFA’s own ticketing approach. Tournament organisers have faced complaints from fans who have paid heavily inflated sums to attend matches, with FIFA itself taking a 30 per cent cut of every ticket sold through its official resale platform.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino defended the pricing structure at a press conference, arguing that selling tickets at lower prices in the North American market would simply have driven demand onto secondary and black-market platforms. “If you sell it at a lower price point in this particular market it would have gone — which is perfectly legal in this country — in secondary markets at much, much, much higher prices,” Infantino said. “And where would the money go then? Well, to those who organise secondary markets or black market activities and not to football.”

Infantino also cited legal scrutiny of FIFA’s ticketing practices in several US states, but struck a confident tone. “We are very relaxed about it because before starting to sell six and a half or seven million tickets we check what we do with the best lawyers, with the best experts,” he said. He pointed to surging prices at the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs as evidence that high ticket costs reflect broader market forces in North American sport rather than a FIFA-specific problem.

FIFA has claimed that United States legislation requires it to permit resale at any price, a position that has done little to ease frustration among supporters who have struggled to secure affordable access to matches. The FA’s decision to delay releasing its cheapest tickets offers England fans a more direct route to the stadium — provided they can move quickly on matchday.