2026 World Cup tickets aren’t on sale yet, but the time is now a little closer

FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, said that “the application period for the first ticket draw” will open on Sept. 10.

Lincoln Financial Field will host six games at next year's World Cup.Read moreDavid Maialetti / Staff Photographer

by Jonathan Tannenwald

Published July 15, 2025, 1:03 p.m. ET

The number one question for a lot of soccer fans right now is when they’ll be able to buy tickets to next year’s World Cup.

For the most part, there still isn’t an answer yet. If you want to spend thousands of dollars to go in on a suite or other high-end hospitality areas, you can do that now, but tickets for the general public aren’t on sale yet.

We do now know a little more, though, thanks to an announcement from FIFA on Tuesday. World soccer’s governing body said that “the application period for the first ticket draw” will open on Sept. 10.

That is a convoluted way of saying there will be a lottery for tickets to start, because there’s so much demand for them. And the matchups, including the six games set for Philadelphia, will still be a long way from being known. The draw won’t happen until December, and most of the qualification process won’t be done until mid-November.

Still, Tuesday’s announcement was an ounce of progress. Any fan wishing to buy tickets will have to register with FIFA’s website, which is nothing new for World Cups.

“This registration of interest ensures they are made aware of ticketing dates, next steps and processes,” FIFA’s announcement said. “On 10 September, fans will then be able to use their FIFA ID to apply for their first chance to buy tickets.”

The announcement also said there will be “several distinct ticket sales phases” from Sept. 10 until the days before the final, set for July 19, 2026, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

And there was this line that sounds a bit ominous for fans’ wallets: “Each phase may differ in purchasing processes, payment methods and ticket products, and full details on each phase will be released in the coming months.”

FIFA expects 6.5 million fans to attend next year’s tournament, which will see a record 48 teams combine to play 104 games over 39 days. The Athletic reported in May that FIFA is planning to use a dynamic pricing program in which prices change based on demand, instead of the fixed-price system that has been traditional at World Cups.

That has naturally led fans and media to expect prices to rise higher than however high they’ll already be. We’ll have to wait to see if there’s a repeat of this summer’s Club World Cup, when many ticket prices fell — sometimes a long way — for games that didn’t sell out.