More than 1.5 million people signed up for the Visa Presale Draw in the first 24 hours, according to FIFA.
DALLAS — More than 1.5 million people in 210 different countries signed up in the first 24 hours of the Visa Presale Draw, according to FIFA.
FIFA officials said most of the applications came from the United States, Mexico and Canada, which makes sense given they will jointly host the 2026 World Cup next summer. The highest sign-ups after that included Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, England, Spain, Portugal and Germany.
“The large number of entries submitted is a testament to the huge amount of excitement sparked across the globe by the FIFA World Cup 26 and the extent to which it’s set to become a watershed in football history,” said FIFA World Cup 26 Chief Operating Officer, Heimo Schirgi.
The Visa Presale Draw will continue to be open until Sept. 19, so that 1.5 million figure should continue to grow. FIFA says it will randomly select applicants and notify them starting Sept. 29, giving them a date and time slot to purchase tickets (subject to availability), with time slots starting from Oct. 1.
It’s not clear how many applicants from the Presale Draw will be selected. Each successful applicant will be able to purchase up to four tickets per match for up to 10 matches, capping each applicant at 40 for the tournament.
FIFA is hosting two more ticket draws in late October and mid-December. Tickets will go on sale again closer to the tournament in 2026 “on a first-come, first-served basis,” according to FIFA. FIFA also said it will start an official resale platform.
With demand being seemingly this high, getting your hands on tickets might seem fleeting. While tickets for all 104 matches will be put on sale, receiving a timeslot does not guarantee tickets will be available.
Here’s a breakdown at how many will be available for the entire tournament:
Tickets available for the entire World Cup: ~7.01 million
- Mexico City – 5 matches (87,523 capacity) = 437,615
- NY/NJ – 8 matches (82,500 capacity) = 660,000
- Dallas – 9 matches (80,000 capacity) = 720,000
- Houston – 7 matches (72,220 capacity) = 505,540
- Kansas City – 6 matches (76,416 capacity) = 458,496
- Atlanta – 8 matches (71,000 capacity) = 568,000
- LA – 8 matches (70,240 capacity) = 561,920
- Seattle – 6 matches (68,740 capacity) = 412,440
- SF/Bay Area – 6 matches (68,500 capacity) = 411,000
- Philadelphia – 6 matches (67,594 capacity) = 405,564
- Miami – 7 matches (64,767 capacity) =453,369
- Boston – 7 matches (64,628 capacity) = 452,396
- Vancouver – 7 matches (54,500 capacity) = 381,500
- Monterrey – 4 matches (53,500 capacity) = 214,000
- Guadalajara – 4 matches (49,813 capacity) = 199,252
- Toronto – 6 matches (28,180 capacity) = 169,080
How much do World Cup tickets cost?
Ticket prices for next year’s World Cup will range initially from $60 for group-stage matches to $6,730 for the final, but could change as soccer’s top event adopts dynamic pricing for the first time.
The prices are up from a range of $25 to $475 for the 1994 tournament in the United States and for the U.S. dollar equivalent $69 to $1,607 when ticket details were announced for the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.