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FIFA World Cup
Soccer fans were able to apply for tickets to watch specific matches at next year's World Cup for the first time on Thursday as FIFA opened up its latest phase of sales. Following last week's draw for the 2026 tournament, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, an updated schedule has been published. That means fans know when and where the likes of Lionel Messi and Argentina will play. Previous ticket ballots were blind as the qualification period had not even been completed and the draw was yet to take place. Now participating nations have been placed in groups, with their paths through the tournament determined. For instance, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo could go on to meet in the quarterfinals in Kansas City if both Argentina and Portugal top their respective groups. Not that fans are guaranteed to get tickets to the games they apply for. The third phase of ticket sales is called the Random Selection Draw and fans will be informed if they have been ...
Soccer fans have accused FIFA of a "monumental betrayal" after latest prices for World Cup tickets began to circulate. The governing body allocates 8% of tickets to national associations for games involving their team to sell to the most loyal fans. And a list published by the German soccer federation revealed prices ranged from $180-$700 for varying group stage games. The lowest price for the final was $4,185 and the highest was $8,680. Those group-stage prices are very different from FIFA's claims of $60 tickets being available, while the target from United States soccer officials when bidding for the tournament seven years ago was to offer hundreds of thousands of $21 seats across the opening phase of games. Fan organization Football Supporters Europe (FSE) described the current prices as extortionate. This is a monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup, ignoring the contribution of supporters to the spectacle it is, it said in a statement. The English Football ...
Curaao salvaged a 0-0 draw with Jamaica to become the smallest nation by population to qualify for a World Cup and will be joined by CONCACAF sides Panama and Haiti which also booked their spots. Curaao finished as the only undefeated nation in the tournament and finished atop of Group B with 12 points to advance to the World Cup for the first time in its history on Tuesday. Curacao got the historic result it needed despite not having his coach Dick Advocaat on the bench. The 78-year-old Advocaat missed the crucial match because he had to return to the Netherlands last weekend for family reasons. Advocaat was at the helm of the Netherlands national team for three stints and managed South Korea, Belgium and Russia before taking the job with Curacao. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics in Curaao, the country has a population of 156,115 persons as of last January. Iceland, with a population of just over 350,000 was the smallest country to reach the World Cup when it qualifie
FIFA began the process of selling another 1 million tickets for next year's World Cup on Monday, with the opening of a new ticket draw marking the start of the tournament's second phase of sales. This draw, which runs through 11 a.m. Eastern Friday, includes a domestic exclusivity time slot for residents of the three host countries the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Fans from those countries, whose entries are selected out of this draw, will have the opportunity to buy single-match tickets for games taking place inside their home nation. The phase is open to all fans, regardless of which country they live. We already have seen massive interest from around the world for this tournament, and especially from within the host countries as Canada, Mexico and the United States prepare to host the biggest FIFA World Cup yet, said Heimo Schirgi, the tournament's chief operating officer. This second phase, with its host country domestic exclusivity time slot, will allow us to say thank you' to the