The ticket prices for the Republic of Ireland’s potential World Cup games against South Korea, South Africa and Mexico next summer have been revealed after the global ticket lottery went live on Thursday.
The cheapest tickets are category 3 tickets for the game against South Africa in Atlanta on June 18th for US$140 (€119), where category 2 are $380 (€323) and category 1 are $450 (€383).
For the opening game against South Korea on June 11th in Guadalajara, category 3 is $180 (€153), category 2 is $400 (€340) and category 1 is $500 (€425). The final group game against hosts Mexico in Mexico City on June 24th is most expensive, with the cheapest tickets of category 3 at $265 (€225), category 2 is $500 (€425) and category 1 is $700 (€595).
Ireland’s place in the tournament is, of course, dependent on playoffs in March 2026, where they would have to beat the Czech Republic and the winners of Denmark and North Macedonia to qualify for the tournament in North America.
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It comes as the federation has been urged to halt ticket sales after it emerged countries’ most loyal fans faced paying “extortionate” prices for tickets, with the cheapest for the final coming in at more than €3,500. Category 1 for the World Cup final comes in at an eye-watering $8,680 (€7,383).
The Croatian federation published details of prices in its participant member association (PMA) allocation, which is designed to be made available to fans who attend the most matches, with tickets at fixed rather than dynamic prices.
However, the Croatian FA listed the cheapest tickets for the final on July 19th as costing $4,185 (€3,562) each.
Football Supporters Europe (FSE) described Fifa’s approach as a “monumental betrayal” of fans.
It said based on the information it so far had available, fans faced paying €6,900 to attend every match their team played, from the first game to the final via the PMA allocation – five times more than they would have paid to do so at the last finals in Qatar.
“Football Supporters Europe is astonished by the extortionate ticket prices imposed by Fifa on the most dedicated supporters for next year’s Fifa World Cup,” a statement said.
“This is a monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup, ignoring the contribution of supporters to the spectacle it is.
“We call on Fifa to immediately halt PMA ticket sales, engage in a consultation with all impacted parties, and review ticket prices and category distribution until a solution that respects the tradition, universality, and cultural significance of the World Cup is found.”
PMA allocations will equate to 8 per cent of a stadium’s capacity for each match.
FSE pointed out that rather than adopting a standard price across all group matches, pricing appeared to have been calculated “dependent on vague criteria such as the perceived attractiveness of the fixture”.
A random selection draw for World Cup tickets was opened by tournament organisers Fifa at 4pm Irish time on Thursday.
All fans – not just those able to purchase tickets through the PMA allocation – will be able to go online between now and January 13th and try to order as many tickets as they would like – also at fixed prices.
Those fans will discover after the closure of the sale window how many – if any – tickets they have successfully obtained, with their credit cards then being charged accordingly.
Tickets sold in earlier windows have been subject to dynamic pricing, which means ticket prices are adjusted in real-time based on supply and demand, similar to airline or hotel pricing. It means seats will tend to vary in price match-to-match.
The federation said it “reflects the existing market practice for major entertainment and sporting events within our hosts on a daily basis, soccer included.” – Additional reporting by PA
