The Biggest Tournament Starts With the Biggest Questions
As Shakira takes the stage at Estadio Azteca today for the opening ceremony of FIFA World Cup 2026, the narrative FIFA wants you to focus on is scale: 48 teams, 104 matches, three host nations, the most inclusive tournament ever. The narrative they'd rather you ignore: this World Cup has become a case study in how to systematically price out the very fans who made the sport a global phenomenon.
The numbers tell the story. Premium tickets for the July 19 final in New Jersey started at $6,730 and have climbed to $10,990—with some categories reaching nearly $16,000. For context, the most expensive Qatar 2022 final tickets were around $1,600. Dynamic pricing—the same algorithmic approach that makes concert tickets and airline seats increasingly unaffordable—has now arrived at football's biggest stage. And FIFA isn't apologizing. President Gianni Infantino's defense? They're simply "adapting to the North American market."
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