FIFA has annulled World Cup tickets issued to approximately 60 fans who inadvertently received them for free due to a website glitch.
The organization explained in a statement on Thursday that these tickets were “allocated at no charge (0 USD) due to a prior payment issue during the checkout process.”
“FIFA regrets the error and any inconvenience it may have caused,” the governing body of soccer noted. “The tickets requested by these fans are still reserved, and the affected individuals have been invited to complete the payment for the correct amount.”
This incident is the latest in a series of controversies involving World Cup ticketing, which is currently under investigation by the attorneys general of New York and New Jersey for potential breaches of consumer protection laws.
The mistakenly priced tickets were made available through the official World Cup website on May 21, according to an email sent by FIFA to purchasers.
This sale occurred over three months after FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced that all 104 World Cup matches had sold out.
FIFA continues to sell tickets for games at the World Cup, which is set to kick off next Thursday in Mexico City. It remains uncertain whether prices for less in-demand matches will decrease under FIFA’s controversial surge pricing model.
Additionally, FIFA is running its own resale platform, charging a 15% commission from both buyers and sellers, to eliminate ticket reselling companies from the equation. Nevertheless, other platforms such as Seat Geek were listing a wide availability of tickets for numerous matches as of Friday.
Tickets for the 2026 World Cup are significantly more expensive than in previous tournaments, with FIFA defending the pricing as necessary for generating billions to support member federations in growing the game worldwide.
FIFA has assumed responsibility for pricing and selling tickets, moving away from the previous model that collaborated with local organizing committees in host nations.
When the soccer federations of the United States, Canada, and Mexico secured hosting rights in 2018, they committed to offering hundreds of thousands of tickets for group stage matches at an affordable price of $21 each.