Fans attending some games at EURO 2028 will be able watch their teams for as little as £26 – a complete contrast to the farce that has engulfed World Cup 2026 in North America.
UEFA have taken the decision to freeze ticket prices from EURO 2024… perhaps as a direct response to FIFA’s shenanigans, which could see fans pay upwards of £8,000 for a ticket to the final. Could this signal a fightback in the battle against greed in football?
World Cup 2026 Final to Be Most Expensive Game in History
FIFA launched their first open sale for World Cup 2026 tickets in April. And the pricing structure confirms that the tournament’s final will be the most expensive football game for fans to watch in person. A cool $10,990, or £8,333 at today’s exchange rate, is what it will set you back to attend that final at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
As if to make the situation even more farcical, the North American bid had initially claimed to FIFA that tickets for the final would be capped at £1,174 – seven times lower than the going rate. Tickets for the 2022 World Cup final exchanged hands at a top rate of £1,214, which showcases the extraordinary mark-up of the same game just four years later.
FIFA have been barracked for the price of their World Cup tickets, to the point that they released a small number of £45 tickets in December. They have been using a dynamic pricing model, similar to that of entertainment companies, that sees ticket prices rise or fall based upon demand.
But the governing body has still been accused of a shocking ‘betrayal’ by fans, who would have to pay tens of thousands to watch their country play in every round should they reach the final. Between the release of two tranches of tickets, the first in December and the second in April, prices have risen by 38% for the final and 32% for category two fixtures.
The April release window, which coincided with the conclusion of the play-off phase that identified the last teams to qualify, saw tickets to 35 of the 72 group games put on sale, with prices ranging from £106 to £2,261. Tickets for the USA’s opening game against Paraguay were priced at £2,072.
Alas, as has been customary throughout, technical glitches affected the sale – some customers had to wait six hours just to join the virtual queue for tickets… only to find that none were left for the games of their choice.
With the April release closed, the only way to buy World Cup 2026 tickets now is via the FIFA resale platform – buyers and sellers both pay a 15% fee to FIFA on top of the ticket cost to use the official channel.
A spokesperson for the Football Supporters’ Association commented: “This is the most expensive World Cup in history for travelling supporters, from match tickets to travel and accommodation. It isn’t just an issue for English fans but for those across the planet.”
The Big Freeze
🔺NEW: Euro 2028 tickets to cost less than £30 as Uefa commits to affordable pricing
Two tickets for tournament, which will be held in UK and Ireland, will cost less than a parking space at this summer’s World Cup
Story by @martynziegler ⬇️https://t.co/pmf6kCITGX
— Times Sport (@TimesSport) March 30, 2026
Contrast all of this with UEFA’s approach to ticketing for EURO 2028. They have promised that 40% of all tickets sold will be in the ‘fans first’ categories, which are the two cheapest allocations available. The funding to freeze prizes will come from an increase in VIP+ tickets, with four different pricing tiers available in all.
And that means that England fans could see all three of their team’s group games for a lower combined cost than a single category three match ticket at World Cup 2026. Not only that, UEFA has promised that the official resale platform will only allow for face-value to be charged for tickets – with considerably lower transaction fees than the FIFA model.
Bizarrely, you would be able to watch as many as five games at EURO 2028 for the same price as a parking space at some World Cup 2026 games. It will cost around £133, on average, to park your car for two hours at a World Cup venue, with spaces at the MetLife Stadium setting you back a cool £171.
And there’s a price premium at venues with little parking, such as California’s SoFi Stadium, where you can park one mile away from the venue for the small matter of £220. “Parking prices are determined based on local market conditions and benchmarking against comparable major events previously held in each host city,” was FIFA’s typically tone-deaf explanation.
How Much Will Tickets Cost at EURO 2028?
UEFA has reiterated that dynamic pricing will NOT be used for EURO 2028 tickets, meaning that fans will have a standardised flat rate to pay. The governing body has also confirmed that ticket prices will be exactly the same, or fractionally more expensive, than they were at EURO 2024. Back then, the cheapest matchday tickets cost £26 for the lowest grade seats and £52 for the next-best tier. The expectation is that these will remain below £30 and £60 respectively.
There will be more expensive tickets available at EURO 2028, which are based on the quality of the seat (i.e. its position and view of the pitch) and also the magnitude of the game. These were priced at £130 and £174 respectively in 2024, but these could be the grades that are increased to pay for the prize freeze at the budget level.
There’s good news for disabled fans, too. At EURO 2028, they will be able to access the lower price tickets, as well as securing a free ticket for a nominated helper. But not so at the World Cup of 2026, where disabled fans are forced to pay a price premium – around 5,000% higher, no less – with no free ticketing for their nominated individuals.
The draw for EURO 2028 will be completed in December 2027, at which point tickets will likely go on sale. Not a bad Christmas present for a loved one then, given that the tournament is to be played in England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland. And EURO 2028 tickets won’t cost the earth, either, so credit to UEFA for that. Will FIFA take heed for World Cup 2030? Spoiler alert: probably not.
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