FIFA president Gianni Infantino laughed off the vicious backlash to reports of a single ticket for the 2026 World Cup final costing in excess of $2 million. Should anyone actually pay that eye-watering price, the Swiss executive promised to personally deliver them a hot dog.
Controversy has dogged FIFA’s ticket prices for months. That world soccer’s governing body is even using a dynamic pricing model—adjusting the cost to match demand—that has prompted widespread outcry, while the implementation of an official resale market is perhaps the hottest topic.
For the first time in the tournament’s 96-year history, FIFA have allowed fans to sell tickets they’ve already bought at face value for any price they deem fit. The strictly non-profit organization just so happen to bank 30% of every transaction on their resale site.
Consternation peaked once again recently when four tickets for the World Cup final were listed at almost $2.3 million each. Infantino dismissed this swollen figure out of hand at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills this week.
“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,” Infantino explained. “And number two, it doesn’t mean that somebody will buy these tickets.
“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.”
Infantino is objectively correct in his assertion that no one has to buy a ticket listed at $2.3 million to get a seat at the World Cup final. There are several options a matter of yards away from those extravagant prices listed in the region of $16,000—which, lest it be forgotten, is still an outrageous sum.
However, the fact that someone has the legal capacity to hike up the prices to such and extent—and would be encouraged by FIFA’s president to do so—is far more concerning.
Most tickets are less than seven digits, yet the sums bandied around are still enough to inspire global fury. Compared to the average price on offer at the five tournaments between 2006–22, this year’s cheapest seats have increased by around six times, per analysis by The Guardian.
Infantino’s defense is one of circumstance. If the opportunity is there, why not take it? “We have to look at the market,” he reasoned, “we are in the market in which entertainment is the most developed in the world. So we have to apply market rates.
“In the U.S., 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.
“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 our price.”
The counter-argument would be that FIFA are not in the business of making money, especially at a tournament as sacred as the World Cup. “Before I remember the World Cup—years, years, years ago—was like a celebration of the joy of football for the nations going there,” Manchester City’s manager Pep Guardiola recently reflected.
“Everyone traveled all around the globe, from the other continents, to see your country, to play there. And it was affordable. Now, [it’s] modern times, right? It’s so expensive.”
That warm-hearted sentiment was not enough to move Infantino. “You cannot go to watch in the U.S. a college game, not even speaking about a top professional game of a certain level, for less than $300,” he argued. “And this is the World Cup.”
