‘Monumental betrayal’ – cheapest World Cup final ticket to cost £3,119

Supporters hoping to attend next year’s World Cup final face paying vast prices, with tickets in the ‘supporter value tier’ starting at £3,119 ($4,185).

Fans’ group Football Supporters Europe has said it is «astonished» by Fifa’s «extortionate» pricing policy.

The high prices for group games and the final have been leaking out on Thursday as Fifa informs national associations of their allocations.

It means the price of the cheapest ticket for Fifa’s showpiece event has increased almost sevenfold compared with the 2022 World Cup. The lowest-priced tickets on open sale in Qatar were £450.

BBC Sport understands tickets for the ‘supporters standard tier’ are £4,162 ($5,560), compared with £747 in 2022.

‘Supporters premium tier’ is £6,615 ($8,860), with the same band £1,197 at the Lusail Stadium three years ago.

FSE has demanded that ticket sales should be halted immediately, adding that tickets not being available in the cheapest category is «a monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup, ignoring the contribution of supporters to the spectacle it is».

The third ticket ballot begins on Thursday afternoon. On Monday, members of national supporters’ clubs will get the chance to enter a random draw for individual games, or to follow their team through to the final.

In a departure from recent tournaments, group stage games are being priced based on their attractiveness, rather than at a flat rate.

In Qatar, group stage fixtures had set prices of £68.50, £164.50 and £219.

Yet for England’s opening match against Croatia on 17 June, tickets cost £198, £373 or £523.

There are no category four tickets available to fans, though this was also the case in 2022 when they were reserved exclusively for residents of Qatar.

FSE has called on Fifa to stop the ticket sale process, believing it needs to rethink the pricing policy.

It said Fifa should «immediately halt PMA [Participating Member Association allocation] ticket sales, engage in a consultation with all impacted parties, and review ticket prices and category distribution until a solution that respects the tradition, universality, and cultural significance of the World Cup is found».

It continued: «In the price tables gradually and confidentially released by Fifa, tickets allocated to National Associations, which typically distribute them via official supporters’ groups or loyalty programmes to their most devoted fans, are reaching astronomical levels.

«National team supporters are expected to pay this full amount in early 2026 to have the opportunity to follow their team up to the final.

«Adding insult to injury, the lowest price category will not be available to the most dedicated supporters through their National Associations, as Fifa chose to reserve the scarce number of category four tickets to the general sales, subject to dynamic ticket pricing.

«For the first time in World Cup history, no consistent price will be offered across all group stage games. Instead, Fifa is introducing a variable pricing policy dependent on vague criteria such as the perceived attractiveness of the fixture. Fans of different national teams will therefore have to pay different prices for the same category at the same stage of the tournament, without any transparency on the pricing structure enforced by Fifa.

«The bid document released in 2018 promised tickets priced as low as $21. Where are these tickets now? The full way to the final, according to the same bid book, was supposed to cost $2,242 in the cheapest category. This promise is long gone.»