According to the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), an error on their website during the payment process caused a small group of fans to buy free tickets before FIFA discovered the error.
These fans are said to have received purchase confirmation before FIFA quickly reversed the decision, canceled their orders and offered them those tickets back at full price, there is no such thing as free.
FIFA confirmed this incident in a statement posted on their X social network. In the statement, they acknowledged that dozens of fans had been allocated free tickets due to the payment handling incident. The organization said tickets would still be kept for 60 fans, but these people would have a few days to pay for tickets or lose priority reservation rights.
According to information known, all 60 tickets are for the group stage matches in Toronto with the participation of the national teams of Canada, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Ghana, Panama, Germany, Ivory Coast, Croatia, Senegal and Iraq.
This latest controversy occurred at a particularly sensitive time for FIFA.
Ticket prices have become one of the most controversial issues of the 2026 World Cup. Fans have complained for months about constantly fluctuating ticket prices, changing seats and the use of flexible pricing models that can significantly increase costs based on demand. Earlier this week, officials in New York and New Jersey announced the opening of an investigation into FIFA to see if some ticket sales activities violate consumer protection laws.
Currently, thousands of tickets at stadiums have not been sold out. Some cities hosting the 2026 World Cup have implemented a policy of buying tickets for people at preferential prices.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced in May that he had secured 1,000 tickets to be sold to New Yorkers for $50/ticket, decided by a draw. Recently, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson announced that 1,400 children (and their caregivers) would be able to watch some World Cup matches for free after the authorities secured a certain number of tickets.
