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Ticket prices for the 2026 World Cup have drawn global criticism
Some lucky New Yorkers will soon have a chance to score cheap seats to this summer’s World Cup.
Mayor Zahran Mamdani announced today, Thursday, that 1,000 $50 tickets will be available to New Yorkers of more than 8 million people to attend the world’s biggest sporting event.
“Let’s imagine, that’s equal to 5 lattes in New York,” Mamdani joked from the coffee shop next to US national team star Timothy Vee.
Tickets will be available for seven of the eight matches played at MetLife Stadium, which has a capacity of 82,000 and is located across the river from Manhattan, New Jersey.
The only exception is the final game to be held on July 19, which is in high demand, with the price of some seats currently reaching about $33,000.
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The mayor added that free bus transportation to the stadium will be included in the tickets. It will be distributed through a lottery starting from May 25.
In light of ongoing concerns about exorbitant game ticket prices, Mamdani said the city will take steps to ensure that tickets are purchased only to New Yorkers and not resold on the secondary market.
He explained that the tickets are not transferable and there will be “multiple ways” to verify residency in the city. Also, tickets will be delivered directly to fans as they board the bus on game day.
“We are making sure that workers are not deprived of attending the game that they helped make,” Mamdani said.
During his election campaign, Mamdani called on FIFA to make matches cheaper for New Yorkers by allocating 15% of tickets at discounted prices to residents, and he also launched a petition calling on FIFA to scrap its plan to set ticket prices on demand.
The $50 tickets come not directly from FIFA, but from a share allocated to the New York-New Jersey Joint Organizing Committee.
FIFA previously issued $60 tickets after a wave of global outrage over the high prices.
