U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team Prepares for World Cup Opener
The U.S. men’s national soccer team is set to kick off the FIFA World Cup on Friday against Paraguay, and there’s something rather notable about this event. Tickets are still available for the match taking place in Los Angeles.
At SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, thousands of extra seats are still up for grabs, which raises some eyebrows regarding the actual demand and pricing for what was advertised as a high-profile match in the tournament.
FIFA’s own ticket sales platform indicates that 132 tickets are left for the game. Additionally, more than 3,000 tickets have been resold on platforms like StubHub and SeatGeek, along with FIFA’s trading site.
Fans eager to attend the game can find remaining tickets for about $900 to $1,000, particularly the more affordable options.
Interestingly, reports suggest that the total tickets up for grabs for this World Cup opener exceed those available for the opening game between Canada and Bosnia and Herzegovina on the same day.
This situation has, understandably, upset many fans. A lot of them are attributing the poor ticket sales to FIFA’s pricing strategy, which they feel has sidelined ordinary supporters.
A Reddit discussion about the match received quite a response, with one fan calling the ticket situation “totally embarrassing,” and criticizing FIFA for setting prices reminiscent of Super Bowl tickets.
For those wanting to be at SoFi Stadium, ticket listings on StubHub and SeatGeek show options available for under $1,000, but it really depends on where you want to sit.
This obviously contrasts sharply with FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s earlier assertions that all 104 World Cup matches were essentially “sold out.”
Looking ahead, the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will take place across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, is expected to be a major event. There’s a lot of anticipation for more matches than ever before, although ticket prices are turning into a point of contention.
It’s worth noting that the cheapest tickets for the final are now four times more expensive than those for the final in Qatar in 2022, making up just a tiny fraction of the available seats.
In 2026, the most expensive ticket for the finals is set to be around $11,000 compared to about $1,600 in 2022.
Former President Donald Trump has criticized these escalating ticket prices, saying he doubts people will spend more than $1,000 to watch a game. He has expressed a desire to attend but admitted that he wouldn’t want to pay such high prices.
