About 2000% hike in price of costliest ticket for FIFA World Cup final

The dynamic pricing system used by FIFA for the World Cup has turned the next edition, starting June 11, into the most expensive ever. FIFA recently tripled the price of the costliest seat for the final match on July 19 to about $33,000 (approximately ₹31.5 lakh).

By comparison, the costliest ticket for the final of the 2022 World Cup, held in Qatar, was $1,607, or about ₹1.5 lakh, a nearly 2,000% increase in four years.

Last week, FIFA President Gianni Infantino justified the exorbitant ticket prices by claiming it was due to the US market. The United States, Mexico and Canada are the joint hosts of the event. The final will be played at MetLife Stadium (New York/New Jersey Stadium).

The most outrageous prices are listed on FIFA's resale website, where buyers can resell tickets at higher prices. FIFA charges a 15% commission on both the buyer and the seller. A few tickets were listed on the resale website at over $2 million.

“If some people put on the resale market, some tickets for the final at $2m, number one, it doesn’t mean that the tickets cost $2m," Infantino recently said. "And number two, it doesn’t mean that somebody will buy these tickets. And if somebody buys a ticket for the final for $2m, I will personally bring him a hot dog and a Coke to make sure that he has a great experience."

Match tickets are available in at least four categories, with Category 1 featuring the most expensive seats and Category 4 the least expensive. The most expensive tickets in the group stages are those featuring the USA. The costliest ticket for USA’s opener against Paraguay in Los Angeles on June 12 is $4,105, which is about ₹3.87 lakh.

For Brazil's opener against Morocco in New York on June 13, the most expensive ticket so far is $2,300 or about ₹2.17 lakh, and the costliest ticket for World Champions Argentina’s first match in Kansas City, against Algeria, on June 16, is $2,925 or about ₹2.76 lakh.