The FIFA World Cup 2026 is set to be a spectacle, but for many American fans, the cost of attending the tournament is a major barrier. Tickets for late-stage tournament matches in five U.S. host cities are outpricing mortgage payments, according to a report by Realtor.com. This means fans in Miami, Dallas, Atlanta, Kansas City, and the New York area could spend a significant portion of their mortgage payment or more for a single seat. The steepest prices are for the July 19 final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where the least expensive seats are listed at $7,256. This is far above the average monthly mortgage payment in New York, which is $4,096. In Dallas, the cheapest tickets for the July 14 semifinal are $2,391, slightly above the city's average mortgage payment of $2,351. In Atlanta, the lowest-priced semifinal tickets are $2,208, above the average mortgage payment of $2,149. Kansas City's cheapest seats for a July 11 match are $1,567, compared with an average mortgage payment of $1,477. In Miami, the lowest-priced tickets for Colombia versus Portugal on June 27 are $2,700, nearly matching the city's average mortgage payment and rent. Some consumers have already been priced out, with 52% of U.S. soccer fans giving up on buying World Cup tickets due to high prices, according to a LiveSportsonTV survey. The pricing has drawn scrutiny from state officials, with attorneys general in Texas, New York, New Jersey, and California launching probes into World Cup ticket pricing and packaging policies. New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport stated, 'Being honest about ticket sales is not complicated, but FIFA has turned buying a ticket to the World Cup into a gauntlet of confusion, fake scarcity, and impossibly high prices — all at the expense of consumers and hardworking New Jerseyans.' This situation raises a deeper question: How can FIFA ensure that the World Cup remains accessible to fans, especially those who have been priced out of the experience?
