FIFA announced on Friday that it had received five million ticket requests for the 2026 World Cup within the first 24 hours of the latest sales phase, despite protests from fan groups over high prices. FIFA clarified that fans from over 200 countries and regions applied through its website to secure seats for the first edition with 48 teams, to be held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico from June 11 to July 19 next year. On Thursday, the Football Supporters' Europe organization called on FIFA to immediately stop the sale of team allocations, accusing the federation of imposing "exorbitant" prices that threaten to deny ordinary fans the chance to attend the tournament. The supporters' group stated that ticket prices have increased fivefold compared to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The high early demand is attributed to anticipated group stage matches, headlined by Colombia vs. Portugal in Miami on June 27, which has seen the most interest to date during the random draw phase. Following that are Brazil vs. Morocco (New York/New Jersey, June 13), Mexico vs. South Korea (Phoenix, June 18), Ecuador vs. Germany (New York/New Jersey, June 25), and Scotland vs. Brazil (Miami, June 24). After the three host nations, the countries with the highest demand for tickets were Colombia, England, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Scotland, Germany, Australia, France, and Panama. FIFA stated that the strong interest from fans in South and Central America reflects the excitement the tournament has generated across the Americas, while Scottish fans are excited about their team's first World Cup appearance in 28 years. The random draw phase continues until January 13 at 17:00 Central European Time, with FIFA confirming that the time of application during this period does not affect the chances of success.
