2026 World Cup Brings FIFA Record Revenue

The 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, pushed FIFA's revenues to a record level. FIFA President Gianni Infantino had earlier stated that the tournament generated 15 billion dollars in revenue, which he said was 2 billion dollars above expectations.

According to The Athletic, around 5 billion dollars of the total revenue comes from ticket and hospitality package sales. This means that one third of the tournament's revenue came from these items alone. However, the amount is not yet final because the audit process is ongoing, and it is noted that the figure could rise or fall slightly.

The number of matches played in the tournament rose to 104, 40 more than the 64 matches at Qatar 2022. In Qatar, revenue from ticket and hospitality package sales was recorded at 929 million dollars.

Meanwhile, the ticket policy led to widespread criticism. For the first time in World Cup history, FIFA applied dynamic pricing and took a 30 percent cut from resold tickets. In the United States, the traditional secondary ticket market was not permitted, and resales were limited to the FIFA platform only, a measure taken to prevent money from falling into the hands of scalpers.

Prices announced before the tournament were also at record levels. Tickets for the final, to be played on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, went on sale at 4,185 dollars. This amount was seven times the cheapest ticket for the Qatar 2022 final. The European Football Supporters' Federation and the consumer rights organization Euroconsumers filed a formal complaint with the European Commission, arguing that the prices were excessive.