England fans say FIFA’s 2026 World Cup prices are pricing them out of knockout rounds

On most World Cup cycles, England’s most committed followers spend years accruing loyalty points for the moment knockout tickets go on sale, then watch them disappear in minutes. This winter, the message from the Football Association (FA) was very different.

In guidance published Dec. 29, the England Supporters Travel Club told members that tickets for the 2026 World Cup quarterfinal, semifinal, third-place playoff and final were still available and that every member who had applied for those games would be guaranteed a seat. The only matches that were oversubscribed were England’s three group fixtures and a potential round-of-16 tie.

The sharp break with past tournaments is not being blamed on a lack of interest in following Gareth Southgate’s side, which has reached two consecutive European Championship finals and is among the favorites for the 2026 title. Instead, supporters’ groups say the allocations reserved for England’s own traveling fans have become unaffordable, even as global demand for tickets reaches record levels.

Record prices, unusual availability

For the World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, FIFA has set the most expensive ticket structure in the tournament’s history. Each participating association receives about 8% of stadium capacity for its matches—known as the Participating Member Association (PMA) allocation—which in England’s case is sold through the FA’s members-only England Supporters Travel Club.

For those seats, most knockout tickets for England matches range from roughly $680 to $5,575. The FA’s published price list shows that in England’s section for the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, the primary “Supporter Value” category costs $4,185 (about £3,120), while the “Supporter Standard” tier is $5,575. Only a limited “Supporter Entry” category is priced at $60 (around £45).

Out of England’s 4,500-ticket allocation for the final, 3,300 are in the $4,185 and $5,575 brackets. Six hundred are in the $60 entry tier and 1,125 in a “Supporter Premier” category listed at $700—an anomaly that fan groups say does little to alter the overall picture of a final where the vast majority of England-section seats cost around $4,000 or more.

The Football Supporters’ Association (FSA), which represents fans in England and Wales and runs the Free Lions “Fans’ Embassy” for England games, says that pricing structure is now feeding directly into the undersubscription of later knockout rounds.

“The numbers are reflective of a fan base that has been priced out, and some of the most loyal supporters of the international game feel completely let down,” the group said in a statement after the FA’s update. “Alarm bells should be ringing whenever participating member allocations, meant for the most loyal fans, are not sold out for any game at a World Cup. This isn’t acceptable.”

FIFA defends the model amid huge demand

FIFA, world football’s governing body, defends the 2026 pricing as a response to what it calls unprecedented interest in the expanded 48-team tournament. It says more than 150 million ticket requests were made in the first random-selection phase for the general public, far exceeding the roughly 5.5 million tickets that will ultimately be available across 104 matches.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has said demand has been “crazy” and argued that higher prices are needed to fund development programs around the world. He has repeatedly pointed out that FIFA is registered as a not-for-profit association under Swiss law and claims that more than 90% of revenues from the 2023–26 cycle will be reinvested in football globally.

“If we want there to be football in 150 countries that would never have football without the revenue that comes from the World Cup, we have to generate that revenue,” Infantino said at a recent event when asked about the 2026 price list.

Travel costs compound the burden

The financial burden for England fans extends well beyond tickets. Travel to a North American World Cup means transatlantic flights, potentially multiple internal flights between host cities such as Dallas, Boston, New York and Mexico City, and hotel prices that UK media have reported at up to £1,000 a night in some areas during match periods.

The FA and supporters’ groups estimate that following England from their first game to the final—even on the cheapest regular category of PMA tickets—would cost around £5,000 to £5,200 in tickets alone, more than four times the equivalent for Qatar 2022.

Against that backdrop, the FA has stressed that it did not set the 2026 price bands and was informed of them only shortly before tickets went on sale.

“The FA has no influence over the ticket prices set by FIFA for the FIFA World Cup 2026,” the association said earlier in December, adding that it would “pass on fan anger” over the cost and work with groups such as the FSA on how best to distribute the limited cheaper tickets.

Political pressure and a limited concession

The domestic political reaction has been unusually direct. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, an England fan who has spoken in the past about saving up to attend major tournaments, welcomed a partial concession by FIFA but said it did not go far enough.

“These tickets are a step in the right direction, but FIFA must do more,” Starmer told reporters after the governing body created a new $60 category for traveling supporters. “We cannot have a World Cup that loses touch with the genuine supporters who make the game so special.”

That new “Supporter Entry Tier,” announced by FIFA on Dec. 16, fixed 10% of every PMA allocation at $60 per match, including the final, and required that half of each nation’s tickets fall into the two cheapest supporter tiers. The measure came after an organized campaign by Football Supporters Europe, an umbrella group formally recognized within UEFA structures, which had described the original prices as “extortionate” and “a monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup” and urged FIFA to halt sales.

Fan organizations say the change was important symbolically but limited in effect. The entry-tier seats are not additional tickets; they are carved out of each country’s existing 8% allocation. In the England section at the final, that translates to 600 $60 tickets in a 4,500-seat block.

The FA’s guidance shows that for high-demand games, those cheapest tickets are effectively reserved for the longest-serving England Supporters Travel Club members, known as “Top Cappers,” who have accumulated more than 60 caps through years of attending qualifiers and friendlies.

Outside that small group, most regular ESTC members face prices of $680 and up for later knockouts—and $4,185 or more for most of the final’s England-end seats.

Football Supporters Europe said the $60 tier “clearly is not sufficient” and pointed out that under the current model one fan could, in theory, follow their nation to the final on $480 worth of entry-tier tickets while another, sitting nearby in the same section, might have to spend around $6,900 in higher categories.

Disabled supporters raise access concerns

The controversy has also brought disability rights to the fore. A network of disabled supporters affiliated with Football Supporters Europe has written to FIFA accusing it of imposing “an unfair tax” on disabled fans in 2026. The group says accessible tickets within PMA allocations are not being offered in the new $60 category and that, for the first time at a World Cup, companion tickets for carers are being charged at full price rather than being provided free.

The same network has raised concerns that accessible tickets are appearing for resale on FIFA’s own official platform at several times their face value with no checks that sellers or buyers are disabled. It has urged FIFA to review the policy against its own human rights commitments and has contacted a United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities.

A split picture for England’s demand

For now, the FA’s numbers indicate a split picture. England’s group games at the 2026 tournament—against Croatia in Dallas, Ghana in the Boston area and Panama in another large North American venue—are heavily oversubscribed. Demand for a potential round-of-16 tie, likely in Mexico City, also exceeds supply.

But beyond that stage, the FA says, applications from ESTC members for quarterfinal, semifinal, third-place match and final tickets are running below the allocations entrusted to England.

With more than 30,000 members in the England Supporters Travel Club and 3,500 to 4,500 PMA tickets per knockout game, that kind of undersubscription is, by the standards of recent tournaments, highly unusual.

What it could mean for future World Cups

What happens next will be closely watched by other national associations, event organizers and broadcasters. If unsold England tickets for later rounds are quietly absorbed into hospitality packages and general sales and the stadiums still fill up, FIFA may conclude that the market will bear the new pricing and that the World Cup can lean more heavily toward wealthier global spectators and corporate clients.

If, instead, high-profile matches show visibly thin sections in areas reserved for traditional traveling fan bases, pressure could grow for reform of how World Cup tickets are priced and allocated—especially when it comes to cheaper tiers and disabled access.

For now, as England prepare for a tournament in which they are again expected to contend, their most loyal followers are weighing familiar dreams of a July final against unfamiliar sums on their calculators. The sight of empty seats in the England end at a World Cup semifinal or final—once almost unthinkable—has become a real possibility, and with it a question that reaches beyond one nation’s fan base: who the World Cup is really for.