World Cup ticket scramble, 1.5 million applications

The 2026 World Cup will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada next year. The initial application for tickets began on September 10, ahead of the upcoming World Cup, which will be hosted by 48 countries for the first time. FIFA said that the application exceeded 1.5 million in 20 hours.

According to the world football's parent body, the largest number of applications for World Cup tickets came from fans of the three host countries, the United States, Mexico and Canada. Next in line in the application are fans of Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, England, Spain, Portugal and Germany.

Heimo Shirgi, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the upcoming 2026 World Cup, said, "Such a large number of applications proves how much excitement the FIFA World Cup 2026 has spread throughout the world and that it is certain to become a milestone in football history."

This initial application will continue until September 19. After that, applicants will be emailed on September 19 after the selection. Later, from October 1, football fans will be able to buy tickets on specific days and time slots. The entire process of buying tickets will be online. There is no direct purchase option. If seats are vacant after the first phase, information regarding resale of tickets will be announced on the website.

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Thus, FIFA has set the deadline for purchasing tickets until July 19, 2026 (final). To apply for tickets, you will have to register with your personal information and create a FIFA ID. The entire process will have to be completed on this website.

The Visa Pre-Sale Draw is entirely subject to the official rules published on the mentioned website. The minimum age to participate in the application process is 18 years. Fans can collect group-stage tickets from just US$60 at the beginning.

In addition to single match tickets, venue-specific and team-specific tickets will be available for all 104 matches at the time of ticket sales. World Cup organizers said that ticket prices for group stage matches will start at $60 (approximately 7,307 taka). The price will increase by category.

Initially, only Visa card holders were able to apply for tickets. The World Cup will be held from June 11 to July 19 with 48 teams. Out of the total 16 venues, 11 are in the United States, 3 in Mexico and 2 in Canada. FIFA expects 6.5 million spectators to attend the 48-team, 104-match World Cup in 2026.