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England Fans claim they have been “slapped in the face” fifa After it was revealed he would have to pay more than £5,000 for tickets to watch all of the team’s World Cup games next summer.
The pricing policy was described as “ridiculous” by the Football Supporters’ Association’s England Fans’ Embassy, while Football Supporters Europe (FSE) called the prices a “gross betrayal” of fans watching matches and urged FIFA to stop the sales process.
Fans hoping to access tickets through their national associations’ travel programs and loyalty schemes learned on Thursday that the cheapest final ticket will cost US$4,185 (£3,120).
football Association Pricing information was shared with the England Supporters Travel Club (ESTC) on Thursday evening, which revealed that if a fan purchased the cheapest ticket for every game up to the final it would cost US$7,020 (£5,228).
These tickets are ring-fenced, fixed-price tickets that FIFA had previously promised to set aside for national associations following controversy over the adoption of a dynamic pricing strategy in ticket sales, known as Participating Member Association (PMA) allocation.
The PMA allocation is equal to eight percent of the stadium capacity for each game. An England fan buying the most expensive tier of tickets for each game will spend US$16,590 (£12,364).
An England fan who managed to buy a ticket in the ‘Fan First’ category at Euro 2024 could have watched every game for 375 euros (£328), while a supporter who bought all their tickets in the next category would have spent 860 euros (£753).
In a post on Twitter, the England Fans Embassy said: “These prices are a slap in the face to supporters who support their team outside of the major tournaments held every four years.
“If you want to follow England from start to finish, it’s ridiculous to call Category 3 tickets, the cheapest available to ESTC members, ‘Supporter Value Category 3’, priced at US$7,020.
“A game for supporters, loyalty has been thrown out the window and supporters of the participating countries have been completely let down.”
FSE said ticket price information available to it shows that supporting your team from the first game to the final at the 2026 tournament will cost five times more than previous World Cups. Queue In 2022.
“Football supporters in Europe are shocked by the huge ticket prices imposed by FIFA on the most dedicated supporters of next year’s FIFA World Cup,” it said in a statement.
“This is a huge betrayal of World Cup tradition, ignoring the supporters’ contribution to this spectacle.
“We call on FIFA to immediately stop the sale of PMA tickets, consult with all affected parties, and review ticket prices and category distribution until a solution is found that respects the tradition, universality and cultural significance of the World Cup.”
The FSE reported that rather than adopting a standard price across all group matches, pricing has been calculated based on “vague criteria such as relying on the perceived attractiveness of the fixture”.
England supporters can expect to pay at least £198 for a ticket for their opening match against Croatia in Dallas on June 17. Tickets for the subsequent group games against Ghana and Panama start at US$220 (£164).
Scottish Football Association also confirmed its PMA allocation pricing on Thursday, with the cheapest tickets for the match against Haiti in Boston ranging from US$180 (£134) to US$500 (£372).
For the second game against Morocco, also in Boston, the cheapest tickets start at US$220 (£164), while the final group game against Brazil in Miami will cost a minimum of US$265 (£198).
Tickets sold in the previous window before last Friday’s World Cup final draw were subject to dynamic pricing – meaning prices rise or fall depending on demand.
FIFA has been contacted for comment.