OCTOBER 2025 UPDATES 

I have updated the World Cup 2026 Ticketing section below with the following information: FIFA ticketing schedule and pricing details, VISA Presale Draw details, and the latest updates on US Soccer ticket distribution plans.

SEPTEMBER 2025 UPDATES 

FIFA has released the schedule for each phase of ticket sales and opened an FAQ page for ticket sales. While many mainstream media outlets and social media creatives are vying to present the latest rumors, it seems there will be little, if any, information leaked that will affect your chance of obtaining USMNT or any other World Cup tickets. Therefore, I recommend creating your FIFA Fan ID, staying up-to-date with the latest updates on the FIFA ticketing website, and simply following the instructions there

I will periodically update this site with the latest links to official FIFA information; otherwise, I will shift my primary focus to providing information regarding fan activities associated with the USMNT matches.

AUGUST 2025 UPDATES 

FIFA has set the basic framework for the first sales phase, but the details remain unknown. I’ve put the known information in the section below. You can also go to the FIFA website to get more information on what is now termed the VISA PRESALE DRAW.

JULY 2025 UPDATES 

As expected, FIFA announced the first sales phase for regular tickets will be a lottery in September 2025. The details are in the updated section below.

JUNE 2025 UPDATES 

Three items to highlight at this time. I’ve incorporated each into the “World Cup 2026 Ticketing” section below:

1.      US Soccer Insiders Program: a new tier, Keepers, was added, and it will probably impact the ticket lottery.

2. FIFA Collect: I explored this program further, and it may be a good option for some.

3.      Suggestions: I’ve outlined some thoughts that may help you decide which path to pursue to purchase USMNT WC2026 tickets.

MAY 2025 UPDATES 

Currently Available Products

               For those concerned that you may be missing out on something, here is an overview of what you can purchase at this time.

Hospitality Packages.

On Location is the official distributor of Hospitality Package tickets for WC2026. The packages are on sale now at the following link: Hospitality Packages.

Here is a summary of each product, as it applies to the USMNT.

Venue—Los Angeles Stadium example: The price of five Group, two Round of 32, and one Quarterfinal match across ranges from $20,300 to $32,380.

Follow My Team – the USMNT is not one of the teams available for purchase at this time

4 Match – host country opening matches are not available

FIFA Club World Cup Ticket Packages

In April, FIFA announced that certain FIFA Club World Cup Ticket Packages would include the option to buy WC2026 tickets.

Here’s the link, if you want to read more: FIFA Club World Cup Ticket Packages.

FIFA Collect – Right To Buy

*See my updated update in June 2025.

Here’s the link to the official FIFA explanation: FIFA Collect.

General Sales

               There have been rumors/reports of information regarding the general ticket sales in the past months. Sourcing the information has been difficult, but here’s my best guess at accurate information.

Date - The previous assumption that sales would start shortly after the Club World Cup seems to be holding. Most estimates have sales beginning in approximately September.

Price - There’s been a lot of buzz around a reported average ticket price of $305. That comes from the World Cup 2026 Bid Book (see table in the main text below).

Supply - I’m sorry to save the bad news for last, but pretty reliable social media posts have reported the following:

• US Soccer will get approximately 1000 tickets per game for their lottery.

• FIFA will release approximately 4000 tickets per game for TST-category tickets.

• The lower bowls are likely to be designated for Hospitality tickets.

• There is always hope that extra sponsor tickets will become available to the public later.

World Cup Ticketing History: My Experience

2026 will be the ninth World Cup ticketing process I have navigated. Hopefully, this historical recap will provide some insight into the likely procedures FIFA and US Soccer will employ for 2026 ticket sales.

1994 - While living in Biloxi, MS, I monitored classified ads in USA Today for ticket broker offers for Dallas and Orlando matches. Unfortunately, my wife fell ill the week before the matches, so we did not purchase tickets. Fortunately, we soon discovered that her mystery illness was pregnancy.

1998 - We purchased tickets listed in a local San Antonio classified ad by a Dallas ticket broker named Lou. Over the next couple of months, four tickets to three USMNT group matches became three tickets to four matches, and not all were seated together. Tickets mailed to our home became tickets picked up at a secret location in Paris, complete with a password at the door.

2002 - With matches in Korea/Japan, ticket demand was lower, and we got US Team-Specific-Tickets-4 in the FIFA lottery. Because I was stationed in Germany and tickets could not be mailed to a PO Box, we were instructed to pick up tickets at the city center office. On game day, the office directed us to the stadium box office. At the stadium, a 45-minute scramble led by multiple Korean officials uncovered an envelope that contained our group match, and we got to our seats just in time for the anthem and John O’Brien’s 4th-minute goal. Tickets for the knockout match vs. Mexico had to be printed at a kiosk once the USMNT advanced.

2006 - Initially, we did not get USMNT tickets in the FIFA Lottery. The US ticket sales were done by FAX! After hours set on redial, a fax finally went through to US Soccer, and we got USMNT tickets for the group stage. Months later, FIFA filled part of our USMNT order, a process that could not be declined or resold through FIFA. Fortunately, Lou in Dallas purchased our extra tickets. Months later, in a Frankfurt park, a group of guys were giving out frisbees with the logo of Lou’s company. When asked if Lou was there, they replied, “No. Lou got deported …he was caught with a bag of resale tickets.”

2010 - In South Africa, ticket demand was again lower, and we got USMNT Team-Specific Tickets through a FIFA lottery. Tickets were printed at a kiosk in the airport.

2014 - In 2009, US Soccer established the US Supporters Club, an effort to have an official fan membership. Since then, methods to determine ticketing priority have varied. In 2014, tiers were based on the date you joined. We joined in 2009 and won tickets in the US Soccer lottery, which were sent by mail.

2018 - With the absence of the USMNT, we bought individual match tickets through the FIFA lottery. The process was similar to other years, before and after.

World Cup 2022 Ticketing

Ticket sales for USMNT matches were similar to the two prior World Cups. Since sales for 2026 USMNT matches will likely resemble this process, I’ll go through it in some detail.

Ticket Categories

World Cup tickets are sold by category. You will not know your seat location until you get the actual ticket.

Ticket categories in Qatar were similar to prior tournaments, and WC2026 will likely follow suit.

Note: Category 4 tickets to all matches are sold to host country residents. The process has varied in the past, and little is known about possible Cat 4 sales in the US for 2026.

Ticket Types

World Cup 2022 tickets were sold in the usual fashion:

Individual Match Tickets

Stadium-Specific Tickets - multiple tickets for matches in one city.

Team-Specific Tickets - multiple tickets for one team. The packages include the three group stage games plus the number of knockout games you chose. For example, TST-4 included three group stage matches plus the first knockout match if the team qualified. If the team did not qualify for further knockout rounds, you received tickets for the team that defeated your team.

Category 4 Tickets - In 2022, approximately 96% were sold to migrants in Qatar. This category also included accessibility tickets for local and international disabled fans.

FIFA First Phase

Each lottery phase included a certain percentage of the overall tickets available for each match. This lottery phase occurred before the tournament draw, so teams for each match were not known except for the host nation. TST tickets were contingent on the nation qualifying.

FIFA Second Phase

This lottery phase occurred shortly after the final draw, so teams were set for each match.

NOTE: The major difference in past lotteries has been the timing of payment. For 2022, lottery entries did not require payment. You could decide after the lottery whether to pay for the tickets you received. Previously, a form of payment accompanied each lottery entry, and you were charged automatically.

FIFA Third Phase

This was an online, first-come, first-served phase for tickets not sold in the lotteries.

During this phase, there was also an option to resell tickets at a set price.

US Soccer Sales

A number of tickets to each match were reserved for designated supporters of each team. For USMNT tickets, the eligible supporters were US Soccer Insider members who had joined before a specific date.

Ticket applications for this lottery phase opened shortly after the final draw and required certain information that verified your US Soccer Insider membership.

NOTE: The US supporter tickets were not grouped in a specific stadium section. You selected the stadium seating category 1-3 and whether you wanted to be considered for lower categories if you do not get tickets in your preferred category. You could link your ticket order to someone else’s order, and FIFA would attempt to seat you together.

NOTE: Each nation establishes its own procedure for ticket sales to its supporters. US Soccer has been using a weighted lottery. For Qatar, the selection was weighted by staging multiple lotteries based on Insider membership levels.

World Cup 2026 Ticketing

Hospitality Packages

On Location is the official distributor of Hospitality Package tickets for WC2026.

Right-To-Buy (RTB) Tic:kets

The FIFA Collect platform enables fans to secure a Right to Buy (RTB) ticket for the 2026 World Cup. At a later date, FIFA will provide you with an opportunity to purchase your actual match ticket. At that time, you will have to pay an undisclosed amount for your ticket, which is in addition to the amount you previously paid for the RTB. According to FIFA, tickets will be offered in multiple price categories; however, it has been reported that approximately 80% will be in Category 1 and 20% in Category 2. Here are the multiple mechanisms through which you can obtain an RTB.

1.      Buy a packet that contains an RTB. This link will take you to the currently available FIFA Collect Drops  

2.      Complete a challenge or reward that earns an RTB. These programs are more complicated than I can outline in this forum.

3.      Buy a resale RTB from a fan in the Marketplace. This link will take you to the FIFA Collect Marketplace  

Here’s an example of the RTB process.

• Visit FIFA Collect Drops to see the currently available packets.

• After the purchase is complete, a virtual pack containing the card appears. (Sorry, I did not think to capture screenshots live, so these are images from the membership card forwarded later.)

• You then “open” the pack to reveal the card.

FIFA General Sales

FIFA has released the following schedule for general ticket sales.

FIFA Phase 1 (VISA PRESALE DRAW)

If you signed up for the draw and were selected, you would receive an email with details regarding your sales window.

When you log into your account after you have been selected for a sales window, you will see the following message.

When you log into your account just before the sales window you will see the following message.

After you enter the queue, I have heard of people waiting 30 minutes to 4 hours in the queue. It took about 30 minutes for our queue.

During the last five minutes in the queue there will be a countdown.

Once in the sales portal, you will see a list of games with a price listed.

When you select the match, the available tickets are shown - with much higher prices. We were able to get 4 Category 2 tickets for the USA group match in Seattle for $425 each and the same for the last USA group stage match in Los Angeles for $690 each.

If you signed up for the draw and were NOT selected, you would have received the following email…

FIFA Phase 2 (Early Ticket Draw)

This lottery phase is expected to be similar to the initial phase that was dedicated to VISA sponsorship.

FIFA Phase 3 (Random Selection Draw)

This phase is a lottery that occurs after the draw, once the opponents for each match have been determined.

FIFA Phase 4 (Last-Minute Sales)

This phase is usually a first-come, first-served sales window.

FIFA Resale Tickets

Resale tickets are available on the FIFA Marketplace

US Soccer Ticket Sales

All US Soccer Insider members should have received an email around the second week of September with initial information about the distribution of the US Soccer ticket allotment. The information varied a little based on the Insider level. Below, I have included an example of the information sent to Circle Insiders at the Captains’ level.

At this point, ticket access seems to be likely to be very close to what I had predicted earlier: Presidents and Coaches are likely to get tickets to each game, Keepers likely to get tickets to most games, Captains may get tickets to some games, and Supporters and below will have to be real lucky in the draw to get any tickets.

NOTE: US Soccer has also created an FAQ site.

Ticket Categories

Ticket Category maps are available for all stadiums, with the lower sections designated as Category 1, the upper sides as Category 2, the upper ends as Category 3, and a minimal number of seats as Category 4.

As an example, here is the map for the Los Angeles Stadium.

Ticket Pricing

The ticket prices for the VISA Presale Draw phase were significantly higher than those published in the original bid book.

These were the prices from the Bid Book.

This is a list of the ticket prices compiled just prior to the Visa Presale Draw, which are close to the prices experienced by those who purchased tickets during this phase.

WHAT TO DO NOW?

1. Register for FIFA ticket information. Be prepared for each FIFA sales phase.

2. Join US Soccer Insiders

3. Consider whether Right-To-Buy, Hospitality Tickets, or Resale Tickets are options for you.

4. If you send me a Contact Form message referencing World Cup tickets, I’ll do my best to notify you when new information becomes available.