FIFA president Gianni Infantino on Wednesday defended World Cup ticket prices, saying: «If we’re doing something wrong, probably everyone selling tickets in North America is doing something wrong.»
Infantino spoke to reporters during a rare question-and-answer session on the eve of the opening match of an expanded World Cup tournament involving 48 nations and 104 matches. He defended record ticket prices, said FIFA was powerless to get the U.S. government to allow a Somali referee, and praised his ability to get the Iranian national team to the United States.
FIFA tickets priced from $140 for group stage matches, but regular seats for the July 19 final outside New York were on offer for up to $8,680 and hospitality seats for up to $73,200. It increased prices for the finale to $10,990 and then $32,970.
After much criticism, FIFA offered $60 tickets to national federations for their regular supporters. Infantino said 130,000 tickets were offered in that category.
Four years ago, prizes at the Qatar tournament ranged from $69 to $1,607.
«If you had sold it at a lower price,» he said, «it would have gone into this particular market – which is perfectly legal in this country… into secondary markets at much, much, much higher prices and where would the money go? Well, to those who organize secondary markets or black market activities, and not to football.»
Infantino said the average ticket price for the tournament was less than $500 and comparable to other American sports during their playoffs, a claim that, while true at resale prices, does not appear to be accurate at list prices. Major League Baseball’s average ticket price for the World Series has been $350 to $400 in recent years, and NFL prices averaged $230 last season for the wild-card round, $320 for division games, $450 for conference championship games and $3,300 for the Super Bowl.
Infantino said he was not concerned about ticket investigations by attorneys general in California, New Jersey, New York and Texas.
«When it comes to these legal investigations or complaints that have been filed in some states in the U.S.,» he said, «we’re very relaxed about that because before we go and sell 6.5 or 7 million tickets, we check what we’re doing with the best lawyers and with the best experts. If we do something wrong, probably everyone who sells tickets in North America is doing something wrong too.»
Infantino pointed to the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs as an example of how other major American sporting events are experiencing a similar price increase.
The entry price on the FIFA resale site for the World Cup finals is $9,805. The NBA Finals had wildly different entry prices, ranging from a minimum of about $500 for the first two games in San Antonio to about $10,000 for Game 3 in New York. Game 4 in New York was much less, dropping to around $4,000 on Wednesday.
This year’s Stanley Cup Final between teams in Las Vegas and Raleigh, North Carolina, included an entry fee of at least $600 for each of the first four games of the best-of-seven series.
“We welcome any investigation,” Infantino said. “We like to present everything and make our case.”
Infantino said it was unfortunate that Somali referee Omar Artan was denied entry to the US
«We can’t control everything. We’re trying. We’ll discuss, we’ll talk, we’ll see. Maybe sometimes it’s also good to just relax, relax,» he said. «We try to solve everything. Sometimes just starting to yell and scream has the opposite effect of finding a solution. Believe me when I tell you, or don’t believe me if you don’t want to, but we always try to find solutions, always. But then we have to respect that we are not the kings of the world who can rule over governments and police forces.»
Artan, who is set to become the first Somali referee at a World Cup, was denied entry into the U.S. at Miami International Airport on Saturday due to unspecified «investigative concerns,» U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement, without providing details of the concerns.
“Our world is a very aggressive world and security comes first and you have to respect the decisions that are made,” Infantino said. “We work behind the scenes.”
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Infantino praised FIFA for working through details that would allow Iran to play in the tournament at a time when the US is at war with that country. The Iranian team moved its training camp from the US to Mexico and flies to the United States just before matches.
“I think it has already been successful in getting Iran to play in America,” he said. «I don’t know who could have done that. And of course everyone here believes it’s the right thing to do. But again, we don’t live on the moon. We live on planet Earth and you have to deal with different situations.»
Infantino claimed the tournament will be “probably the biggest event in the history of humanity.”
Infantino held an empty chair at the news conference for Christophe Gleizes, a French freelance reporter who was sentenced to seven years in prison in Algeria last year for an interview with a football official accused of links to a banned separatist movement. | Photo credit: REUTERS
Infantino held an empty chair at the news conference for Christophe Gleizes, a French freelance reporter who was sentenced to seven years in prison in Algeria last year for an interview with a football official accused of links to a banned separatist movement. | Photo credit: REUTERS
“Without his commitment and his involvement, I think it would have been impossible – as simple as that, it would have been impossible to organize a World Cup in the United States,” Infantino said. “He immediately understood the magnitude of the World Cup, the impact of the World Cup.”
FIFA expects $11 billion in revenue for the tournament, and Infantino said the governing body could have generated much more.
«We could put everything on payroll. We would probably generate $30 billion in revenue,» he said. “But then you have billions of people in the world who wouldn’t be able to see the World Cup.”
Four years ago, Infantino scolded critics during a press conference ahead of the opening match in Qatar. He blasted Europeans for criticizing Qatar’s human rights record during a bizarre appearance in which he claimed he felt gay, as a woman and a migrant worker, among other strange claims.
Infantino, now 56, has been FIFA president since 2016 and plans to seek a new term next year, running until 2031.
Infantino held an empty chair at the news conference for Christophe Gleizes, a French freelance reporter who was sentenced to seven years in prison in Algeria last year for an interview with a football official accused of links to a banned separatist movement.
Published on June 11, 2026
