FIFA faced technical difficulties resuming World Cup ticket sales on Wednesday shortly after the 48-team field was finalised, and failed to specify available games or price categories.
Adding to the confusion, users clicking the "last-minute sales phase" were misdirected to a "PMA late qualifier supporters sales phase", intended for fans of the six recently qualified nations.
Many prospective buyers reported lengthy waits, with some stuck in virtual queues for over 90 minutes after sales commenced at 11 am EDT.
FIFA offered no explanation for the misdirection but stated around noon that the ticketing system was then working properly.
FIFA also said that not all remaining tickets were being put on sale for the 104 games to be played in the U.S., Mexico and Canada and that additional tickets will be released on a rolling basis.
This was the fifth phase of ticket sales following a Visa presale draw from Sept. 10-19, an early ticket draw from Oct. 27-31, a random selection draw from Dec. 11 to Jan. 13 and an unscheduled 48-hour availability in late February.
FIFA said this phase marked the first time a specific seat location could be purchased rather than a request for a ticket in a category.
FIFA is using dynamic pricing for the tournament, which will be played in cities across the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
For the month-long sales phase after the Dec. 5 draw, tickets were priced at $140 to $8,680.
After complaints, FIFA said $60 tickets would be made available to each participating national federation for their most loyal supporters, an amount likely to be 400-700 per team for each match.
Sixty-nine Democratic members of Congress wrote in a March 10 letter to FIFA President Gianni Infantino that the use of dynamic pricing starkly contrasts with FIFA’s core mission to promote accessible and inclusive soccer globally.
They added that despite host cities’ cooperation, the consequences of dynamic pricing would make the 2026 World Cup the most financially exclusionary to date.
FIFA also has its own resale market, collecting 15% from both the buyer and seller.
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Congo, the Czech Republic, Iraq, Sweden and Turkey completed the World Cup field. Fans of teams eliminated could attempt to resell tickets they already had purchased.
Infantino claimed in January that the amount of ticket requests FIFA had received was equivalent to “the request for 1,000 years of World Cups at once.”
“It’s incredible,” he said.
It was unclear if many of those requests were for seats in the lowest-price categories.
Fan groups have voiced concern over the soaring costs for resold tickets and one filed a formal complaint to the European Commission.
Infantino defended FIFA's cut of resales, saying it was a legal commercial activity.
Some European countries have laws that restrict resale by requiring tickets to be sold at face value or only through authorized partners.
