How to Get World Cup Tickets in 2026: Lotteries, Tips, and Dates to Know

A ticket from the 1966 FIFA World Cup finals. Photo: Steve Travelguide/Shutterstock

I’m also an American citizen, having moved to the US nearly a decade ago. That’s what makes the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Canada, Mexico, and the US even more special for me. It’s a unique chance to sing “football’s coming home” in my adopted home, and an opportunity to follow the family tradition of stocking up on stories I can tell half a century from now.

For these reasons, and many more, I don’t just want to get tickets — I need to get tickets. Even with the possibility of dynamic pricing, I’ve learned some tricks and tips anyone else desperate to get tickets should follow. Here’s what to do to avoid unparalleled levels of FOMO next summer.

Paper tickets from the FIFA World Cup 2018. Photo: Valery Bocman/Shutterstock

Forget the Powerball or the Euromillions. There’s only one lottery that fans of the beautiful game need to worry about: the World Cup 2026 Visa Presale Draw on September 10, 2025. Fans need to sign up for a free FIFA ID (and own a Visa credit card) to enter.

The first “blind” lottery phase is open from September 10–19, giving fans the chance to register interest, with one million people selected to purchase tickets in early October. FIFA expects around 6.5 million fans to be in attendance across the tournament, which means these early-bird tickets account for about 15 percent of the total available. Entering this lottery gives fans early access, a chance at better seats, and less panic when next summer rolls around. But you won’t know at this stage which teams you’re buying tickets for.

Photo: Ahyan Stock Studios/Shutterstock

The next confirmed date of note for anyone wondering how to get FIFA World Cup 2026 tickets is December 5, 2025, for a draw held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. On this date, the 48 qualified teams will find out their group stage opponents. After this, FIFA will open general (non-lottery) sales in waves. These will be first-come, first-served, but only for the remaining inventory after lottery winners have claimed their seats. If this World Cup follows the lead of the last one in Qatar, fans will have a chance to get their hands on more tickets after the December event, likely open to anyone with a FIFA ID. There will likely be additional waves closer to the tournament.

For general post-lottery sales, no specific dates or prices have yet been announced. This is when dynamic pricing comes into play, which means ticket prices fluctuate in real-time based on popularity. FIFA trialled dynamic pricing at the Club World Cup, with FIFA President Gianni Infantino calling it one of the best things he’s learned in the United States. Dynamic pricing led to last-minute tickets for the semifinal dropping as low as $13.40. But the World Cup will be way more popular than the Club World Cup. Ultimately, dynamic pricing could lead to a much higher price for tickets, especially in popular host cities and knockout phase tickets, favoring wealthy fans over everybody else.

If you’ve got a big network of people who understand your passion for soccer, it might be tempting to get them all to sign up for the lottery phases. But, it’s essential to know that “Main Applicant tickets” are non‑transferable. While the three additional guest tickets applicants can buy are transferrable and can be sent to a guest via the FIFA Club World Cup 2026 app, those seats are assigned next to each other. So make sure anyone you get to buy tickets is both available, and a person you can stand to be seated next to for an entire match.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by FIFA Hospitality (@fifahospitality)

Just like the 48 teams that will have qualified for the 2026 World Cup, it takes both skill and luck to come out on top. So the only surefire way to snag tickets to avoid the heartache of lotteries and dynamic pricing is by buying hospitality tickets. I spoke with Alicia Falken, General Manager for FIFA World Cup 2026 at On Location, the tournament’s official hospitality company, about its higher-end World Cup offerings.

“This is the only place where you can guarantee access to the World Cup now, the official hospitality provider,” she shared. It’s expensive, but for soccer fans, it may be worth it. According to Falken, entry-level packages start at just over $1,400 per ticket. That includes seats, as well as access to the stadium’s FIFA hospitality pavilion before, during, and after the match.

This price doesn’t just get you seats for a game, but access to a dedicated community in the pavilion. It’s all about building the local vibe, which is especially exciting for newcomers to cities they’ve never visited before, or may not have visited, were it not hosting a match. Falken says hospitality ticket holders have access to quite a few additional perks in the FIFA Pavilions. That includes “food and drink before and after the match, regional street food with locally grown ingredients, local vendors, and local floral species, which has a sustainability aspect, too.”

Of course, that’s for the basic packages. On Location has provided similar offerings for some of the world’s biggest events, including the Super Bowl, Wimbledon, the Olympics, and Coachella, and the top packages go way beyond just access to local bites.

Buying hospitality tickets is the only way to get guaranteed seats as of now, before the World Cup ticket lotteries open. Photo: ralexa19/Shutterstock

“You can get a private suite, which creates that exclusive, continuous service,” she says, “or the highest-end lounge product, with craft cocktails [and] curated culinary experiences.” The most luxurious package is the Platinum Access Package, with everything from memorable keepsakes to five-star accommodations and dinners with sports legends.

Hospitality package tickets are already on sale, and according to Falken, have seen more interest than any other event in the company’s history. “There’s going to be tremendous demand for this event,” she says, noting that it already surpassed the demand throughout the entirety of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

With the World Cup draw still months away, people buying a hospitality package now are going in blind, not knowing what teams they’ll be seeing. But Falkenƒ doesn’t see this as a missed opportunity. She sees it as a unique one.

“I like to have life experiences, see new places, and experience new things, and maybe see something that I haven’t seen before, whether it be a place or teams,” she says. “It makes it a bit of an adventure.”

Photo: Motortion Films/Shutterstock

There is another way of getting tickets to the FIFA World Cup 2026 that isn’t available on any sites: scalping. If you’re planning on showing up on match day to buy tickets outside the stadium, be warned that FIFA has banned unauthorized resale of tickets, and tickets are technically non-transferable. While you may be lucky and find somebody who has an extra guest ticket and needs a friend for the day, security at the World Cup is going to be very stringent, scams will be in full force, and you could end up with an empty wallet and a ban from future FIFA events if it doesn’t go your way.

Soccer in the US has come a long way since the last time the country hosted the World Cup back in 1994, when I was just four years old. World Cup USA ’94 still holds the record for the largest attendance of any FIFA World Cup, when 3,587,538 spectators attended 52 matches.

But the 2026 World Cup is expected to smash these numbers. That’s partially because there will be twice as many games, and twice as many chances for fans like myself to get our hands on tickets. Whether I land a lottery ticket, or end up taking out a loan for a hospitality experience, I’m already counting down the days until the tournament kicks off on June 11, 2026.