There are 48 flags being represented at the World Cup next month, but when it comes to FIFA’s ticket sales, the most prominent flag is red.
FIFA touted another ticket sale release Thursday afternoon — its third ticket drop in the “last-minute” sales phase since April 1 — with tickets available on a first-come, first-serve basis while supplies last. After spending more than three-and-a-half hours in the FIFA queue, I quickly realized that the supplies were plentiful. And they were lasting way longer than FIFA would like to admit, even for the world’s best and most popular teams.
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“Every match is already sold out,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said at a business conference back in February. “We keep some tickets back for some last-minute sales, of course, but every match is sold out.”
FIFA walked back that claim, telling The Athletic that Infantino misspoke and that FIFA expects to sell out every game. Just over a month from the opening matches kicking off in the United States, Mexico and Canada, the question has to be raised about whether FIFA has oversold ticket interest this whole time.
On April 29, all but seven of the 72 total group stage matches in the tournament were listed on the FIFA ticketing website as having “limited availability.” Eight days later, 57 matches were listed as normal availability; only 15 were “limited availability.”
Want to see Lionel Messi and defending World Cup champion Argentina? Nearly every section of Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium has tickets available for its opener on June 16 against Algeria, with a get-in price of $770.
Argentina vs. Algeria: Colored sections have availability. (FIFA)
England should be a country that sends some of the most fans to the States to watch the Lions compete for their elusive World Cup crown, yet nearly every section in the upper bowl has tickets available for its opening match against Croatia at Dallas’ AT&T Stadium on June 17, with a $920 get-in price.
England vs. Croatia: Colored sections have availability. (FIFA)
Essentially the whole upper bowl has tickets available for Brazil’s much-hyped opening match against Morocco on June 13 at MetLife Stadium outside New York City, the first group stage match in the tournament between two teams ranked in FIFA’s top 10. The get-in price for that match is $1,265. Germany, one of the most popular teams, is having trouble selling out its opening match against Curaçao on June 14 at Houston’s NRG Stadium,…
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