What is happening with World Cup ticket prices?

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Fifa promised a sold-out World Cup but there are still tickets available for over half the games By Dale Johnson Football issues correspondent Published 14 minutes ago Falling prices, fluctuating availability and a lack of clarity. With one week to go until the 2026 World Cup kicks off, many questions remain unanswered about match tickets. Fifa promised the event would be sold out, but there are thousands of tickets available for sale across several platforms. BBC Sport has found tickets for matches involving the smaller nations are now available well below face value - across Fifa's own resale site and secondary marketplaces. World football's governing body has itself been accused of dumping inventory it now cannot sell on SeatGeek. So just how 'sold out' are the matches? Will we see a repeat of last summer's Club World Cup when tickets were sold off at knock-down prices to fill stadiums? Could the biggest World Cup ever see swathes of empty seats? World Cup tickets - what do we know? When it comes to Fifa and World Cup tickets it might be easier to frame this as what we don't know. There has been so much secrecy that it seems impossible to be certain what a fair and reasonable price for a World Cup ticket truly is. Only last week, the attorneys general of New York and New Jersey officially launched an investigation into Fifa's ticket practices. Football's governing body was subpoenaed to answer allegations of "artificially inflating prices" and "misleading fans". The ticket buying process has been like a game of pin the tail on the donkey, one where you do not know how much it costs to play. According to the subpoena, some fans who were successful and paid for tickets in one price category were ultimately issued tickets of a lower value further away from the pitch. Even those who won in the ballot did so with the blindfold on - at no stage was a pricing structure published. The astronomical price of tickets only became clear when fans were asked to pay. Fifa deployed variable pricing, rather than dynamic pricing, which sees prices changed at each sales point based on previous demand. Fifa's final, open sales window began in April. At the time it said that more tickets could be released right up to kick off. But for which matches? When? And at what prices? Stadium maps were altered and more expensive categories added, of which supporters were unaware. These were usually in the first few rows and priced about 50% higher than the seats behind them. They were not made available to fans in the ballot period. The attorneys general claimed it was all part of a deliberate attempt to withhold information and leave fans guessing about how they could buy tickets. Fifa ordered to explain World Cup ticket pricing Published 27 May Empty rooms and Fifa cancellations - US hotels fear World Cup washout Published 20 May Goalkeeper tactical timeouts to be banned at World Cup Published 3 days ago How sold out is the World