By The Canadian Press

World Cup ticket pre-sale draw sees more than 1.5 million applicants in 24 hours

Sep 11, 2025 | 1:43 PM

FIFA says it received more than 1.5 million applications from 210 countries in the first 24 hours of its 2026 World Cup ticket pre-sale draw.

As might be expected, the highest number of applications came from the three tournament co-hosts — the U.S., Mexico and Canada — followed by Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, England, Spain, Portugal and Germany.

FIFA did not provide a specific breakdown.

“The large number of entries submitted is a testament to the huge amount of excitement sparked across the globe by the FIFA World Cup 26 and the extent to which it’s set to become a watershed in football history,” FIFA World Cup COO Heimo Schirgi said in a statement.

The pre-sale, which runs until Sept. 19, is a lottery open to Visa cardholder — Visa is a FIFA partner — and the first of several ticket windows ahead of the June 11 kickoff of the expanded 48-team, 104-game soccer showcase.

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The initial bumper numbers come despite some technical glitches on the first day of the draw Wednesday, with some applicants facing lengthy waits after getting error messages or being kicked back to where they started from.

The pre-sale draw will involve approximately one million tickets. FIFA has not provided a number on the total tickets that will be available for the tournament.

After a random draw, successful applicants from the pre-sale will be notified via email, starting Sept. 29, and will be given a date and time-slot to purchase tickets (subject to availability), with time-slots starting Oct. 1.

The cheapest ticket for group-stage matches is US$60, the lowest of four price categories — and farthest from the field. That ranges all the way to US$6,730 for the most expensive ticket for the championship game.

Ticket prices are subject to demand, however, so will likely rise.

The FIFA lottery is one of three ways Canadians can get tickets.

In addition to hospitality packages (already available), which range in price from $2,500 for a single-game package to bespoke experiences with price tags to match, Canadians will also be able to enter a separate lottery for a shot at Canada Soccer’s ticket allotment for Canada’s games.

To do that, you have to be a member of the CanadaRed supporters group, with details on timing to come.

Canada is hosting 13 games, seven in Vancouver and six in Toronto.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2025.

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press