FIFA President Infantino Claims Over 1 Million Ticket Requests for World Cup Games

Infantino says every match at the 2026 tournament in North America will be sold out.

Published on Feb. 25, 2026

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FIFA President Gianni Infantino has claimed that the organization has received over 1 million ticket requests for 77 of the 104 matches at the 2026 men's World Cup, which will be held across Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Infantino also suggested that every match at the tournament will be sold out, although a FIFA source later indicated he may have misspoke on that point. The FIFA president made these comments during an appearance at the World Liberty Forum hosted at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

Why it matters

The high demand for World Cup tickets and Infantino's claims about sellouts raise questions about FIFA's ticketing policies, which have been criticized by supporters groups and politicians for being too expensive and inaccessible to average fans. There are also concerns about the close ties between Infantino and the Trump orbit, which could raise issues around FIFA's political neutrality.

The details

Infantino claimed FIFA has received 'requests for over 500 million tickets — 508 million, to be precise — for around 7 million tickets that we have on sale.' He also provided more granular data, saying 77 of the 104 matches have received over 1 million ticket requests each. However, a FIFA source later indicated Infantino may have misspoke when he said every match is already sold out, and that the organization is instead expecting all games to sell out. Infantino also claimed FIFA revenues from the tournament will exceed $11 billion and that the U.S. economy will receive $30 billion in economic impact, though such economic impact studies are often treated with skepticism.

  • The 2026 men's World Cup will be held in June and July this summer across Canada, Mexico and the United States.

The players

Gianni Infantino

The president of FIFA, the international governing body of association football, futsal, and beach soccer.

Donald Trump

The former President of the United States, who hosted the World Liberty Forum event at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida where Infantino appeared as a guest.

Keir Starmer

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, who has criticized FIFA's World Cup ticket pricing.

Zohran Mamdani

The Mayor of New York City, who has also criticized FIFA's World Cup ticket pricing.

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What they’re saying

“It's not a problem in the sense that the demand is there. We have 104 matches in total, which if you look at the audience figures, six billion people will watch these matches. Obviously the price is a consequence of that and 77 out of these 104 matches have received requests for over 1 million tickets. Every match is already sold out.”

— Gianni Infantino, FIFA President (CNBC)

“Everyone wants to come here and everyone wants to be part of something special. People generally want to experience some emotions and be part of something happy and feel something special. All these requests coming from all over the world show that people want to come, celebrate, have fun and — they are all a little bit, maybe tired and fed up of all this negativity that is portrayed the whole time, right? We need some good news and some good things.”

— Gianni Infantino, FIFA President (CNBC)

What’s next

FIFA is expected to provide more details on the World Cup ticket sales and demand in the coming weeks and months as the tournament approaches.

The takeaway

The high demand and ticket prices for the 2026 World Cup raise concerns about accessibility and affordability for average fans, while Infantino's close ties to the Trump orbit also raise questions about FIFA's political neutrality.