Want to see the Socceroos play US at the World Cup? Here’s how much a ticket could cost you

2 months ago 14

Socceroos supporters clamouring for a seat at their blockbuster World Cup clash against co-hosts the United States will pay up to $1050 for the privilege.

And that’s if they aren’t forced onto resale websites, where a single ticket is up for grabs for as much as $US13,105 ($19,650) some six months out from kick-off.

The heated nature of Australia’s friendly with the United States in October promises more fire at the World Cup.

FIFA has released its ticket pricing for the 2026 tournament to a galled global reception. Fan groups have accused the governing body of a “monumental betrayal” after it once boasted it would make $60 tickets available.

Seven years ago, when US officials were bidding for the tournament, their pitch included offering hundreds of thousands of $21 seats across the opening phase of games.

But insane demand and FIFA’s introduction of dynamic pricing appear set to shut ordinary fans out of the expanded 48-team finals.

According to Football Supporters Europe (FSE), which represents fan groups across the continent, the minimum $US6900 ($10,346) fans would have to fork out to follow their team from its first match until the final was almost five times what it cost at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The surreal FIFA World Cup draw may be a precursor of things to come.

“This is a monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup, ignoring the contribution of supporters to the spectacle it is,” FSE said in a statement.

For Australians, the cheapest ticket for any Socceroos group game is $209.96. That is for category three seats to watch either the opener against a to-be-determined European nation in Vancouver, or the third match against Paraguay in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Category two seats for those two games are $569.89, and category one costs $674.87.

But the cheapest ticket (category three) for the match against the hosts in Seattle is $398, while category two costs $750 and category one $1050. A hospitality package is on offer at a minimum of $1700.

“This is a monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup.”

Football Supporters Europe

For fans travelling from Australia, this is on top of other expenses such as flights, accommodation and group-stage travel from Vancouver to Seattle and then Santa Clara, for what could become the most expensive sporting event ever staged.

European fan groups on Friday demanded an immediate halt to ticket sales, accusing FIFA of charging “extortionate” prices for fans buying via their national associations, each of which are allocated 8 per cent of tickets for games involving their team.

Football Australia will receive an allotment of tickets through FIFA for each of Australia’s matches, only available to the organisation’s Football Account Plus members.

Registration for this “one-time premium membership upgrade” costs $99, and will get members a unique access code to apply for the right to purchase from FA’s allotment via the FIFA ticketing portal.

Patrick Clancy, chair of Football Supporters Association Australia (FSAA), called FA+ “an absolute moneymaking exercise”.

“Very sceptical about FA Plus,” Clancy said. “We’ve been very open that $99 is outrageous to join a queue, and it does not guarantee you anything … they’re just monetising something that already existed.”

“Talking to tour companies, their view is that the World Cup, while the tickets are more expensive than in the past, that other costs of travel – accommodation in particular – are much less than say, Qatar. So these things balance themselves out.

“But I guess the issue is that FIFA indicated early on that there were going to be tickets as cheap as, I think, US$60, whereas in reality, for the three Australian group games, the cheapest is category three for about $210.”

Clancy wrote to FA chief executive Heather Garriock in October to express concerns, ask where the revenue would go, and request consultation. He said the email had been unacknowledged to date.

FA has been contacted for comment.

The limit is two tickets per match per member, meaning families and larger groups must acquire multiple FA+ accounts to enter the ballot for more.

However, even fans who pay the sign-up fee are far from guaranteed World Cup tickets.

FA last month stated that “demand will dramatically exceed availability”. A case in point is the US game in Seattle. Lumen Field’s seating capacity can expand to 72,000 for major events, which would cap FA’s allocation at 5760 tickets. Punters can try their luck via the free FIFA ballot, but will have to compete with the rest of the world.

Fail that, and the secondary-market websites have a captive market. The cheapest on sale via Seatgeek for USA against Australia is $US990 ($1484) and tops out at almost $20,000.

The cheapest ticket to the final at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium is $US8593 ($12,884), with some on sale for as much as $US98,253 ($147,327).

The 2026 edition is set to be the most lucrative sports event ever, with FIFA’s projected revenues exceeding $15 billion, partly due to the expanded 48-team format.