Gianni Infantino Defends Controversial World Cup Ticket Prices
Gianni Infantino sat on stage in Beverly Hills and stared straight into the storm.
With World Cup ticket prices triggering fury across Europe and beyond, the FIFA president did not back down. He doubled down.
Speaking at the Milken Institute Global Conference, Infantino defended a pricing structure that has seen tickets for the 2026 World Cup final soar to levels unimaginable even four years ago – and then climb even higher on FIFA’s own resale platform.
On FIFA Marketplace last week, four tickets for the July 19 final in New York appeared at more than $2 million each. Not total. Each.
Infantino brushed off the eye-watering figures as a function of demand rather than policy.
"If some people put on the resale market, some tickets for the final at $2 million, number one it doesn't mean that the tickets cost $2 million," AFP quoted him as saying. "And number two it doesn't mean that somebody will buy these tickets."
He even tried a joke.
"And if somebody buys a ticket for the final for $2 million I will personally bring him a hot dog and a Coke to make sure that he has a great experience."
The humor did little to cool the anger in Europe. Fan group Football Supporters Europe (FSE) has branded FIFA’s approach “extortionate” and a “monumental betrayal,” and has taken the fight to Brussels. In March, FSE lodged a complaint with the European Commission over what it calls “excessive ticket prices” for the tournament.
The numbers tell the story. The most expensive face-value ticket for the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar was around $1,600. For 2026, the top category for the final is about $11,000.
Infantino insisted the leap is not greed but market logic.
"We have to look at the market -- we are in the market in which entertainment is the most developed in the world. So we have to apply market rates," he said.
The United States, Canada and Mexico will host a 48-team tournament spread across a sports and entertainment industry that routinely sells out events at premium prices. US law also allows wide-open ticket resales, and Infantino leaned heavily on that point.
"In the US it is permitted to resell tickets as well. So if you were to sell tickets at the price which is too low, these tickets will be resold at a much higher price," he argued. "And as a matter of fact, even though some people are saying that the ticket prices we have are high, they still end up on the resale market at an even higher price, more than double of our price."
His argument is simple: if FIFA doesn’t capture the value, scalpers will. Fan groups counter that the world’s biggest sporting event is drifting out of reach for ordinary supporters.
Infantino, though, came armed with another figure: demand.
He said FIFA had received more than 500 million ticket requests for the 2026 World Cup, compared with fewer than 50 million combined for the 2018 and 2022 editions. That tenfold surge has become a key plank in FIFA’s justification for its pricing.
The governing body, he stressed, has not turned the entire tournament into a playground for the ultra-rich. According to Infantino, 25 percent of group-stage tickets are priced under $300.
"You cannot go to watch in the US a college game, not even speaking about a top professional game of a certain level, for less than $300," he said. "And this is the World Cup."
The clash is clear. On one side, a governing body pointing to market forces, resale laws and unprecedented demand in a lucrative host region. On the other, supporters who see a global festival slipping away from the people who built its atmosphere in the first place.
Infantino has made his choice. The market, he insists, will decide what the World Cup is worth. The question now is how much of football’s traditional soul gets priced out along the way.
