...
By Marni Rose McFall
Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Less than a month until kick-off, and some host cities for the World Cup are facing a potential flop as hotels are struggling to shift rooms, and thousands of tickets remain unsold.
The tournament is set to be the largest ever staged, taking place in 16 host cities across North America and featuring 48 teams and 104 matches.
But there have been some concerns that the scale of the competition is not necessarily translating into tangible interest, as high pricing across tickets and hotels could be a barrier to access for some fans.
Read More on News
Overall ticket sales though, remain high. A spokesperson for FIFA told Newsweek "Ticket sales for the FIFA World Cup 2026 remain strong with a high degree of interest for all matches. More than 5 million tickets have already been sold*,* and tickets will continue to be made available on a first-come first-served basis at fifa.com/tickets until the end of the tournament as part of the Last-Minute Sales Phase."
Given the scale and high profile nature of the tournament, there has been continued attention on ticket sales, from pricing to performance. FIFA President Gianni Infantino said during the FIFA Congress in Vancouver *"*There were many discussions about the ticketing of the (FIFA) World Cup."
"We had 500 million ticket requests," he said. "In the last two (FIFA) World Cups together, we had 50 million ticket requests. Here, 500 million. We sold 100 percent of the inventory that we put on the market, which is more or less 90 percent of the global inventory so far." Infantino added "There are expensive tickets, yes, but there are also affordable tickets."
Why It Matters
The 2026 FIFA World Cup has seen years of preparation and the promise of a massive boost for the North American economy. The competition comes in tandem with America’s 250th anniversary celebrations and has been framed as a jewel in the crown of the year for the U.S.
...
But the reality may be a little less shiny. Resale prices for some matches have dropped sharply, with one group-stage game dropping below $100 per ticket and several still showing more than 1,000 tickets available.
Across the 16 host cities, thousands of tickets remain unsold. Notably, though, much of the inventory is concentrated in a relatively small number of lower-demand matchups.
Nevertheless, there is a spotlight on both prices and sales. President Donald Trump was asked to respond to the price of the U.S. team’s opening game against Paraguay on June 12, which comes to $1,000.
"I wouldn’t pay it either, to be honest with you," he said.
How Different Host Cities Have Been Impacted
80 percent of hotels surveyed by the American Hotel and Lodging Association in a recent report have said that bookings are lagging behind initial forecasts.
The association has, in turn, placed partial blame on FIFA, saying that the organization had overbooked blocks of rooms, and that this did not reflect demand.
Rosanna Maietta, President & CEO of AHLA, said in a statement in the report "Hotels across host markets have spent years preparing for the World Cup, and while there is real excitement, the data points to a more nuanced outlook," adding "A range of factors have tempered early optimism, though forward indicators show there is still meaningful opportunity ahead."
Houston
A recent report from the local news station ABC Houston said that there has been a modest increase in bookings. Michael Heckman, the President and CEO of Houston First Corporation, said that "Typically for this time of year, booking into June, right now we're seeing about a 9 percent increase over what we normally see around this time. And that is about 11 percent in July."
The director of the Lancaster Hotel in Houston told the outlet, "We were expecting full occupancy, thinking we would be sold out by now."
Seattle
Over in Seattle, there are similar figures. In a report published by the Seattle radio station, KUOW, the owner of the local hotel, The State Hotel reported thar their occupancy for June is 7 percent below where it was last year.
Anne Johnson, the hotel owner, told the outlet that it was "frustrating," and that she expected occupancy to be "a bit higher than it is right now."
Atlanta
Accommodation proprietors in Atlanta reported sales falling short of expectations too.
One Airbnb owner shared a video to his TikTok account, @omosblack, where he said that ahead of the World Cup, his Airbnb has not been booked at all, for any of the FIFA games, despite it being near to the stadium and normally booked out.
Canada
The Canadian Press recently reported that Toronto is optimistic that the World Cup will bring people to the city, despite high ticket prices and a lack of a surge in bookings.
Toronto’s vice president of destination development, Kelly Jackson, said that hotels are tracking to see an occupancy rate of 80 percent in June and July, and that hotels have seen an increase in individual traveler bookings, compared with the same month last year.
McKenzie McMillan, the managing partner at the Travel Group in Vancouver, told KUOW that "Unfortunately this World Cup is happening at a time of global upheaval, so that's definitely working against each one of these cities and their hotels," citing the Iran war and political tensions between the U.S. and Canada.
Mexico
South of the border, it’s also a mixed bag in the three Mexican host cities of Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. Rates jumped massively, but according to a report from the local news outlet La Razon, as of early spring, hotels in Mexico were around 25 to 30 percent sold, citing the president of the Mexico City Hotel Association (AHCM), Javier Puente Garcia.
He wasn’t worried about this though, and said that not everyone books in advance.
Hotel Prices Surge Across the Board
Newsweek previously mapped out how prices have surged across all 16 cities hosting the FIFA World Cup.
A report from FCM Consulting found that 13 of the 16 host cities have seen a year-over-year increase of at least 80 percent each night.
The steepest percentage increases were in Mexico, despite the fact that those began at a much lower base. In Guadalajara, for example, rooms that averaged $90 per night last summer are now listed at $511, in what marks the biggest jump among all host markets.
The widest spread in hotel pricing can be seen in the U.S., where Boston leads the American markets with an average nightly rate of $611. At the bottom of the ladder is Houston, where hotels are averaging $205 per night
World Cup Tickets Available by City
Previous reporting from Newsweek aggregates which cities still have World Cup tickets available.
Atlanta currently tops the list with over 5,000 tickets still available, followed by Philadelphia, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, all of which have over 4,000 tickets available.
What Has FIFA Said About Ticket Prices?
This year's World Cup is the most expensive in the tournament's history, and critics have said that it’s becoming a competition only for those who can afford it.
FIFA confirmed in September that it would introduce dynamic pricing, for the first time in World Cup history. That system adjusts ticket prices based on real-time demand, and was criticized at the time. Previous reporting from Newsweek found that group-stage tickets started at $60, while top-tier final seats are priced as high as $6,730.
A spokesperson for FIFA told Newsweek "FIFA is focused on ensuring fair access to our game for existing and prospective fans, and offered group stage tickets to the general public starting at USD 60 for all matches, including the final, reflecting a very competitive price point for a major global sporting event in the U.S."
"FIFA’s pricing strategy spans a broad range of price points and categories, reflecting market demand for each match, and tickets have been released across sales phases, such as Category 4 at the most accessible price point," they added.
They also noted that FIFA is a not for profit organization.
"Revenue generated from the FIFA World Cup every four years is reinvested to support the development of men’s, women’s and youth football across all FIFA 211 member associations, every day of the year," the spokesperson said.
A Potential Drive in Demand for the Knockout Stage
Despite the concerns, the beginning of the games is yet to come, and once the tournament is in full swing, there could be a drive in demand.
In a recent episode of the CoStar News Hotels podcast, Didio Pequeno, the director of hospitality market analytics for Northeast and Midwestern U.S. for CoStar Group said "As we get into the knockout stages…when you think about those larger teams like Spain, Argentina, England, France that have these massive fan bases, if they advance into the knockout stages and really go far, then we're going to see a lot of travelers spending more money on hotels and travel, and that will benefit World Cup performance and hotel performance in general," he said.
What Happens Next
The opening match of the World Cup will be between Mexico and South Africa on June 11. The event will conclude on July 19.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines