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2026 WORLD CUP GREED? WHY FIFA’S RESALE RULES ARE A BETRAYAL OF REAL FANS

Gianni Infantino admits World Cup 2026 ticket prices will soar due to legal reselling, with final tickets already hitting $230,000.

2026 World Cup Greed? Why FIFA’s Resale Rules Are a Betrayal of Real Fans
Is the World Cup Now Only for the Super Rich?

Just a little over four months before the World Cup kicks off, FIFA president Gianni Infantino dropped some news that’s got a lot of fans worried about ticket prices.

Lately, people have been stressing out over how much it’ll cost to see a match. The tournament’s happening across the US, Mexico, and Canada, and tickets have been a hot topic. Turns out, the fears were justified. On Friday, Infantino admitted that resellers are about to send prices through the roof for this summer’s games.

At the World Economic Forum, Infantino pointed out that, in the US, it’s totally legal to resell tickets on online platforms. “There’s a law for that, so we have to allow it,” he explained. He went on to say that every single one of the 104 games will probably sell out, thanks to sky-high demand—and resellers are going to make things even tougher for regular fans.

Take the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium, for example. On FIFA’s own resale site, tickets are already popping up for as much as $230,000. Yeah, you read that right. Infantino said, “You can be sure these tickets, which we’ll have to draw lots for because every game will be sold out, will be resold for even more.” He couldn’t stop talking about how wild the demand is—he compared it to a thousand years of World Cups all rolled into this one. “It’s incredible,” he said. Well, that’s one word for it. Plenty of fans would probably argue it’s just frustrating.

FIFA’s resale site gets a 30% cut of every sale, by the way. The most expensive final ticket is listed at $230,000, while the cheapest Category 1 ticket is nearly $17,000. Compare that to the original ticket price—somewhere between $4,000 and $8,000—and it’s clear prices have shot up. And don’t get too comfortable with those numbers either, since dynamic pricing means they’re bound to change.

It’s not just the final, either. For the US vs. Paraguay in LA, top-tier resale tickets range from about $3,700 to over $100,000.

All this comes after Infantino’s earlier insistence that ticket prices were fair. Back in December, he boasted about the record demand: “We’ve got six to seven million tickets for sale, and in just 15 days, we got 150 million requests. That’s 10 million requests a day. The World Cup is just that big.” He’s proud of the chaos, calling it “absolutely crazy.”

He also tried to reassure everyone that all this money is going back into football. “What matters is that the profits go back into the game worldwide. Without FIFA, there wouldn’t be football in 150 countries. It’s because of these World Cup revenues that we can invest everywhere,” he said.

After a huge backlash, FIFA promised that a small batch of tickets—about 10% of each country’s allocation—would go for a more reasonable $61. Not much, but it’s something. Still, with prices soaring everywhere else, that’s little comfort for most fans just hoping to see their team play.

CRISTIANO RONALDO PROTESTS AL-HILAL'S BENZEMA DEAL BY SKIPPING AL-NASSR LEAGUE MATCH

Cristiano Ronaldo is fuming. Discover why the Al-Nassr star skipped his last match and is now threatening to leave Saudi Arabia.

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Ronaldo "considering leaving Saudi Arabia" despite signing 2027 contract extension

Cristiano Ronaldo has been the main attraction in the Saudi Pro League ever since he landed in the Middle East three years ago. Now, for the first time, it looks like he’s actually thinking about leaving. He’s frustrated. He feels the playing field isn’t level, and it’s starting to get to him.

Here’s the deal: Four clubs in the league—Al-Ittihad, Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal, and Al-Ahli—get their backing straight from the state. But Ronaldo sat out Al-Nassr’s match against Al-Riyadh on Monday night. Why? He was protesting. He found out Al-Hilal was about to sign Karim Benzema from Al-Ittihad, and that was the last straw. From Ronaldo’s perspective, Al-Hilal keeps getting more freedom to splash cash than everyone else. They’re the current champions, and Ronaldo still hasn’t managed to win his first Saudi title.

Saudi officials tried to calm him down. According to Diario AS, they reached out and argued that most of Al-Hilal’s extra spending comes from Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, not the Public Investment Fund (PIF). Al-Hilal just brought in Kader Meite for €30 million, Saimon Bouabre for €23 million, and now Benzema. Al-Nassr, on the other hand, only managed two free transfers this winter. Sure, they spent a lot more in the summer, but that didn’t seem to matter to Ronaldo.

Reports from Portugal, cited by AS, say Ronaldo’s not ruling anything out—not even leaving Saudi Arabia this summer. That’s despite just signing an extension with Al-Nassr until 2027.

And honestly, he has a point. Since he arrived, Al-Hilal have spent €647 million, while Al-Nassr have shelled out €410 million and Al-Ittihad €365 million. These numbers probably don’t include salaries—and let’s face it, nobody’s making more than Ronaldo. He’s supposed to return on Friday when Al-Nassr face Al-Ittihad, but right now, no one really knows if he’ll play or if he’s planning his next move.

N’GOLO KANTE SKIPS TRAINING AS AL-ITTIHAD BLOCK HIS MOVE TO FENERBAHCE OFFICIALLY

N’Golo Kante has gone on strike at Al-Ittihad after a paperwork error blocked his move to Fenerbahce. Can he still sign by Friday?

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Paperwork error halts N’Golo Kante’s transfer to Turkey at final hour

N’Golo Kanté didn’t show up for Al-Ittihad training on Tuesday, and it’s not hard to see why. He was all set to head to Fenerbahçe, but the deal fell apart at the last minute—apparently because Al-Ittihad messed up some paperwork. Kante was supposed to fly to Istanbul and sign, but thanks to this administrative slip, he’s stuck in limbo. There’s still a shot at reviving the transfer sinceKanté Turkey’s transfer window stays open until Friday, February 6.

Kante was one of the first big European names to jump to the Saudi Pro League, joining Al-Ittihad in 2023 after seven years with Chelsea. He’s been a key player in Jeddah, helping Al-Ittihad win the 2024-25 league title and the King’s Cup.

Then, in the middle of the January window, word got out that Fenerbahce wanted him. The Turkish club were eager to add a World Cup winner to their squad. The plan was to swap Kante for Youssef En-Nesyri, who’d head to Saudi Arabia. Everything seemed set until deadline day, when news broke that an error by Al-Ittihad in the Transfer Matching System stopped the transfer cold.

Fenerbahce didn’t hold back. They blamed Al-Ittihad directly, saying they’d done everything right: agreements with the players, medicals, paperwork, all wrapped up on time. But Al-Ittihad entered something wrong in the system, and that was that. Fenerbahçe even asked for an extension and reached out to FIFA, but nothing moved. In the end, the deal died, and Fenerbahçe put out a statement saying they understood the frustration and would keep working to strengthen the squad.

Meanwhile, Kante’s making his feelings clear. According to Ben Jacobs, he skipped training on Tuesday, still hoping the move to Fenerbahce can happen. Santi Aouna says talks between the clubs aren’t dead yet. L’Equipe is reporting that Kanté doesn’t want to play for Al-Ittihad while he waits for FIFA’s decision. With the Turkish window open until Friday, there’s still a glimmer of hope for Kante, though En-Nesyri’s move is off the table for now.

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