How Fifa lost control and made the World Cup a rip-off for fans
SPECIAL REPORT: While the Fifa president Gianni Infantino boasts about how the US commercialisation of sport is ‘reaching different levels’, fans are left to pay the exorbitant cost of this World Cup. ‘It’s a lesson in how to suck the joy out of it.’ By Miguel Delaney
As the days tick down to the start of the World Cup , senior Fifa figures under Gianni Infantino are understood to be “very nervous” about other numbers. Ticket sales are nowhere near expectations, despite bombastic talk of 500 million requests. There’s an obvious reason that anyone could have told Fifa.
If they are “nervous”, loyal fans are agonising over life-changing money. Bodies like the Football Supporters Association (FSA) and US-based executives like the former Liverpool CEO Peter Moore estimate that it will cost between $10,000 and $35,000 to follow your team right through. Even the home supporters – including Donald Trump – feel it is far too costly, as indicated by the low sales reported by The Athletic for the USA’s opening game in Los Angeles .
“Fifa overplayed their hand,” one involved source says, “and got the pricing wrong”. “I wouldn’t pay it, either,” Trump even said on Thursday , as he added he would be “disappointed” if his voters couldn’t go. That must have been especially embarrassing for Infantino.
When the United States hosted the 1994 World Cup, Fifa refused to hike up the prices of tickets because they were worried about upsetting supporters. In 2026, the governing body’s strategy has flipped (The Independent/Getty/iStock) So much for the supposedly universal US “culture” of being willing to pay high prices for any major “entertainment event” that Fifa apparently had to abide by. Such arguments play into another schism, which points to how this World Cup may drastically influence football’s future.
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