Nearly 180,000 tickets for the 2026 World Cup are sitting on FIFA’s official resale marketplace, and the tournament hasn’t even kicked off yet. Of those 180,000 listings, roughly 176,000 are tied to the opening group phase. Median resale prices have already dropped 20% in recent weeks, and some match tickets are showing identical “get-in” prices hovering around $69, a clear signal that supply has overwhelmed demand.
FIFA’s resale platform: solving one problem, creating another
FIFA launched its official resale and exchange marketplace back in October 2025, explicitly designed to capture revenue that previously leaked to unauthorized secondary sellers. The platform’s transaction fees, reportedly between 15% and nearly 30%, do not impose price caps, further complicating the ticketing situation.
The NFT angle: FIFA Collect and right-to-buy tokens
Running parallel to the ticketing headache is FIFA Collect, the organization’s blockchain-based digital collectibles platform. Among its offerings are “Right-to-Buy” NFTs, which grant holders priority access to purchase match tickets. The secondary market for these RTB NFTs shows prices ranging from around $98 for lower-tier collectibles to north of $6,000 for high-demand items. Basic digital collectibles on the platform trade for under $2.
