By now, you’re probably aware the 2026 FIFA World Cup will take place, at least partly, in Houston. I’ll give you a minute to consult the truly illuminating preview posted to this very site.
All done? I truly hope you enjoyed that look ahead, because that might be all you get.
For those hoping to get World Cup tickets for NRG Stadium — either in the group stage or one of the single Round of 32 or 16 contests we get — there’s a lottery you can register for on the FIFA website (you’ll have to create a FIFA account, if you haven’t). There, you register for the draw between December 11 and January 13, applying to the specific matches you want (you can select random, or go by a particular team). You’ll also select the number of tickets you want to buy.
After doing this — and FIFA makes it clear that how early you register offers no advantage — you’ll be notified if you’re wholly or partially successful (for all draws or partial ones) and automatically charged for those tickets in February (“partially successful” means you get “some” of the matches you request).
That’s basically a “no backsies” policy for whatever credit card you save to your FIFA account (I recommend Mr. Underhill’s). Fans can apply for a maximum of four tickets per account, to a max of 40 tickets throughout the tournament. There are four categories, with the best seats in Category 1 and Category 4 being nosebleeds. For example, say I wanted to register for the ticket draw for the first NRG match, Germany v Curaçao:
As you can see, there are no Category 4 World Cup tickets at NRG. These were probably part of FIFA’s announced supporter tier: $60 tickets made available to team supporters after fan anger at dynamic pricing. In any event, you’re out $180 for the privilege of watching Germany stomp a mudhole in the Blue Wave on the Jumbotrons. If your draw is successful, that is.
You’ll be a little better off with Cabo Verde v Saudi Arabia (June 26). Cheap seats for that one are only $140. Minimum price for either of Portugal’s matches (June 17 and 23), however, are $265. Folks love that Ronaldo.
A better strategy might be rolling the dice for the Round of 32 or 16. True, we don’t know who’ll be playing, but Category 3 prices for each of those are $220. Might be worth it for the chance to see Brazil v Netherlands (32) or — long shot — Italy v Scotland.
Those are just the NRG Stadium matches, mind you. Say you want to go all in and try for the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey:
I like how the “Easy Access” and Wheelchair and Easy Access Amenity tickets are exactly the same goddamn price as the regular ones. FIFA is clearly an equal opportunity gouger.
Whatever the case, the “cheap seats” for the final match are still over $4,000. And anyway, these are just the official tickets you may be lucky enough to score. Go to any secondary market site and you’ll see an even worse scenario:
As you can see, those $60 tickets mentioned above are already going for over 250 clams a piece. For the first Portugal match here, you’ll play almost $350 for those seats, and up to $75,000 for two seats in section 107, behind the players’ benches.
Just for grins, let’s see what the final match is looking like:
“Amazing!” Bear in mind, we don’t have any idea who’ll be playing in the final. Those prices above could easily double by late June.
If you’re saying, “Gee, Pete; this is pretty ridiculous,” you’re not wrong. The Guardian wrote about how the World Cup — like many other sporting events — is getting priced out of reach of everyday fans:
An analysis by the Guardian of men’s World Cup ticket pricing shows that amid the general rise in ticket prices for the 2026 World Cup, the most extreme of those hikes have often applied to the cheapest tickets.
[…]
In 2026, not only are the “cheap seats” at least three times pricier in most rounds than they were when Qatar hosted in 2022, there were so few Category 4 seats available that the whole tournament’s inventory sold out before sales opened to the general public, per Fifa.
[…]
Dynamic pricing, introduced for this tournament, has been cited as the primary driver of these price increases. The practice allows prices for each game to change based on demand, and that demand has changed markedly since the World Cup draw.
There it is. “Dynamic pricing,” the scourge of concertgoers and baseball fans everywhere, is being used in the World Cup for the first time. And while we’ve occasionally seen successful pushback from fans and artists on the issue (Oasis and the Cure, most famously), don’t expect the notoriously rapacious FIFA to turn off the cash spigot any time soon.
By the way, if you’re still looking to get those tickets, the draw opened December 11 at 11 ET (1600 GMT) and closes January 13, 2026. Good luck.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.