World Cup Ticket Sales Resume as 48-Team Field Finalizes After Bosnia Penalty Win

FIFA resumed World Cup ticket sales at 11 a.m. ET Wednesday following Bosnia and Herzegovina’s penalty shootout victory over Italy.

World Cup ticket sales resumed at 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday immediately following the finalization of the 48-team tournament field. The final berths were secured on Tuesday, headlined by Bosnia and Herzegovina qualifying for the tournament after defeating Italy on penalties. This result marks the third consecutive World Cup failure for the Italian national team. Joining Bosnia and Herzegovina in the final group of six qualifiers were Congo DR, Czechia, Iraq, Sweden, and Türkiye. Conversely, fans of eliminated nations including Italy, Poland, Denmark, Jamaica, and Bolivia now have the option to attempt reselling previously purchased tickets through official channels.

Technical difficulties marred the opening of this fifth sales phase, which FIFA designated as the "last-minute sales phase." Users attempting to access the portal at the 11 a.m. start time were frequently misdirected into a queue labeled "PMA late qualifier supporters sales phase," a section specifically intended for followers of the six teams that qualified on Tuesday. Wait times in the digital queue exceeded 90 minutes for many individuals who joined at the launch. While FIFA did not provide a specific explanation for the link misdirection, the governing body reported that the technical issues were resolved and links were functioning properly by approximately 12 p.m. ET.

Dynamic Pricing and Revenue Structures

This phase represents the first opportunity for fans to purchase specific seat locations rather than submitting requests for ticket categories. FIFA is utilizing a dynamic pricing model for the 104 matches scheduled across 16 host cities, including 11 in the United States, three in Mexico, and two in Canada. During the month-long sales window following the December 5 draw, ticket prices ranged from a minimum of $140 to a high of $8,680. In response to pricing concerns, FIFA announced that $60 tickets would be allocated to each participating national federation, specifically for their most loyal supporters. These allocations are expected to total between 400 and 700 tickets per team for every match.

Financial accessibility has become a point of political contention, as 69 Democratic members of Congress addressed a letter to FIFA President Gianni Infantino on March 10. The lawmakers argued that dynamic pricing contradicts FIFA's mission of global soccer development and claimed the 2026 tournament would be the most financially exclusionary to date. Additionally, FIFA maintains a secondary market where it collects a 15% commission from both the buyer and the seller on every transaction. Infantino defended these practices as legal commercial activities under U.S. law, despite complaints filed with the European Commission regarding soaring costs in the resale market.

Tournament Logistics and Sales History

The 2026 World Cup will span from June 11 to July 19, featuring an expanded format of 48 national teams. FIFA clarified that not all remaining inventory was released during Wednesday's launch; instead, additional tickets for the 104-game schedule will be made available on a rolling basis. This current phase follows four previous windows: a Visa presale draw (Sept. 10-19), an early ticket draw (Oct. 27-31), a random selection draw (Dec. 11-Jan. 13), and an unannounced 48-hour availability period in late February.

Gianni Infantino previously characterized the demand for this tournament as unprecedented, claiming in January that ticket requests were equivalent to "1,000 years of World Cups at once." However, it remains unspecified how many of those requests targeted the lowest-priced categories. While some European nations have domestic laws requiring tickets to be resold at face value or through authorized partners only, FIFA continues to operate its own proprietary resale platform. The governing body has not disclosed exactly which games or price categories remain available for the duration of this last-minute phase, which is scheduled to remain open throughout the tournament.