Five million World Cup ticket requests in one day - Fifa

Five million requests for 2026 World Cup tickets have been made since the latest ticketing phase opened on Thursday, says Fifa - despite growing criticism over their cost.

Football's world governing body says fans from more than 200 countries have asked for tickets, with the group match between Colombia and Portugal in Miami on 27 June the most sought after.

But the pricing structure for next year's tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico has been criticised, with the Football Supporters' Association (FSA) calling it "scandalous".

Group-stage tickets are up to three times the prices of those for Qatar in 2022, while the cheapest ticket for the final will cost £3,119.

The Football Association will contact Fifa to relay fans' concerns after it was asked to lobby the world governing body to lower the price of tickets.

The FSA has joined Football Supporters Europe (FSE) in demanding the sales process is stopped so fans' groups can hold talks with Fifa over its pricing policy.

"We back Football Supporters Europe in calling for a halt in ticket sales and we are calling on the Football Association to work with fellow FAs to directly challenge these disgraceful prices," the FSA said in a statement.

"We call on all national associations to stand up for your supporters, without whom there would be no professional game."

Fifa has yet to comment on the criticism, while both the FA and the Scottish FA have yet to comment on the ticket prices.

BBC Sport has been told the FA is aware that England fans are angry, and is planning to pass on those concerns to Fifa.

There is a Fifa Council meeting in Doha next week, and FA chair Debbie Hewitt will be present. Last month she said she was opposed to dynamic ticket pricing, and has vowed it will not be used at Euro 2028, which the UK and Ireland is hosting.

With the Home Nations FAs hoping to host the 2035 Women's World Cup, they - and the UK government - may be wary of upsetting Fifa.

Privately, Fifa insiders say while tickets will seem expensive to many, the governing body has a duty to set prices with the US market in mind, grow the game around the world, and to use its revenues to develop men's, women's and youth football.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino has also promised to achieve record revenues, and the most lucrative sports event in history will do no harm to his re-election hopes in 2027.

The huge increase in the price of tickets was revealed on Thursday when Fifa released allocation details for the official supporters' groups of each country.

At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, group stage fixtures all had set prices of £68.50, £164.50 or £219.

But for England v Croatia and Scotland v Brazil next year, tickets cost around £198, £373 or £523.

The cost ramps up considerably in the latter stages.

Quarter-finals for all teams are £507, £757 and £1,073, with the semi-finals £686, £1,819 and £2,363.

The cheapest tickets for the final are £3,119, seven times more expensive than in Qatar.

There are no concessions across any of its tickets for children or other groups.

Next year's World Cup, the first time 48 nations will be taking part, takes place from Thursday, 11 June to Sunday, 19 July, with the draw made last Friday.

While Colombia v Portugal has been the most popular match so far, Fifa says that is followed by Brazil v Morocco (New Jersey, 13 June), Mexico v South Korea (Guadalajara, 18 June), Ecuador v Germany (New Jersey, 25 June), and Scotland v Brazil (Miami, 24 June).

According to Fifa, the most requests for tickets have come from the three host nations, followed by Colombia, England, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Scotland, Germany, Australia, France and Panama.

The cheapest tickets are in the 'supporter value' category, which the FSA called "a laughable insult to your average fan".

The FSA added that supporters felt they had been "stabbed in the back" and that loyal fans will now likely be missing in the US, Mexico and Canada because the matches will be "unaffordable" to most.

"This is a tournament that is supposed to be celebrated by the world, where fans of all nations come together for the love of football," the FSA said. "Fifa has decided to make it all about the money and the elite who can afford it.

"For Fifa, loyalty is not the hard-working fan travelling thousands of miles in support of their team at qualifiers around the continent. A game that should be for all is now only for those who can afford it.

"Who needs to follow England away for disappointment when Fifa can deliver that six months before a ball is kicked? The life has been sucked out of this tournament before it starts."

It will cost about £5,225 for a supporter to follow their team through to the final if they were to attend all eight matches in the cheapest ticket category.

That rises to about £8,850 in the mid-price range, or £12,357 for the top tier.

In 2022, it would have cost £1,466, £2,645 or £3,914, though that was for seven games rather than eight.

FSE has called on Fifa to stop the ticket sale process, believing it needs to rethink the pricing policy.

"In the price tables gradually and confidentially released by Fifa, tickets allocated to national associations... are reaching astronomical levels," it said in a statement.

"Adding insult to injury, the lowest price category will not be available to the most dedicated supporters through their national associations [because] Fifa chose to reserve the scarce number of category four tickets to the general sales, subject to dynamic ticket pricing.

"For the first time in World Cup history, no consistent price will be offered across all group-stage games. Instead, Fifa is introducing a variable pricing policy dependent on vague criteria such as the perceived attractiveness of the fixture.

"Fans of different national teams will therefore have to pay different prices for the same category at the same stage of the tournament, without any transparency on the pricing structure enforced by Fifa."

The Football Supporters' Association's England Fans' Embassy said: "These prices are a slap in the face to supporters who support their team outside of the flagship tournament that appears every four years.

"A game for supporters, loyalty has been thrown out of the window and supporters of the participating nations have been completely let down."