FIFA has announced that it received over 500 million ticket requests for this year’s World Cup, despite widespread criticism surrounding the high cost of attending the tournament.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, January 14, FIFA revealed that fans from all 211 of its member associations submitted applications for tickets to the competition, which will be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The ticket lottery application period closed on Tuesday, and FIFA noted that applicants would be notified of the outcome of their requests no earlier than February 5.
Outside the three host countries, the strongest demand came from supporters in Germany, England, Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, and Colombia.
According to FIFA, the most sought-after fixture was Colombia’s group-stage match against Portugal, scheduled to take place in Miami on June 27. This was followed by Mexico’s group encounter with South Korea in Guadalajara on June 18, while the World Cup final in New Jersey on July 19 ranked third among the most requested matches.
“Half a billion ticket requests in just over a month is more than demand it’s a global statement,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said. “I would like to thank and congratulate football fans everywhere for this extraordinary response.”
“Knowing how much this tournament means to people around the world, our only regret is that we cannot welcome every fan inside the stadiums,” he added.
FIFA has faced strong criticism over its ticket pricing strategy for the expanded 48-team World Cup, with supporters’ groups describing the prices as “extortionate” and “astronomical.”
Football Supporters Europe said ticket prices were almost five times higher than those at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. In response to the backlash, FIFA introduced a new category of lower-priced tickets in December, costing 60 US dollars (51 euros) each.