Tickets for Sunday's England v Mexico World Cup last-16 tie at the Azteca Stadium are appearing on FIFA's official resale portal for thousands of pounds — and FIFA is skimming 15% from both the buyer and the seller every time one moves.
The tickets were originally allocated to members of the England Supporters' Travel Club through a ballot back in December. They became eligible for resale on Wednesday, the moment England sealed their place in the knockout rounds with a 2-1 win over DR Congo. Within hours, some of those same tickets were being flipped at prices that price out the vast majority of genuine supporters.
FIFA built this system. That's the point.
The Football Supporters' Association didn't mince words: "FIFA has deliberately designed an online exchange which allows tickets to be sold at vastly inflated prices with world football's governing body grabbing 15% of the money from both the buyer and the seller."
That's not a loophole. That's the business model.
FIFA, for its part, defended the setup by claiming it "aligns with industry trends across various sports and entertainment sectors" and ensures "fair market value." Which is a polished way of saying: if someone will pay it, that's the price. The problem is that World Cup tickets aren't concert tickets. They were allocated through supporter ballots precisely to prevent this. FIFA then built the infrastructure to undo that intent and profit from it twice over.
The FSA did spread the criticism around, noting they "can't excuse supporters who choose to tout their own tickets at ridiculous prices either." Fair. But the individual seller relisting a ticket for a profit is doing something FIFA's own system was engineered to facilitate. The responsibility isn't equal.
What this means beyond the outrage cycle
For anyone still trying to get into the Azteca on Sunday, the secondary market — official or otherwise — is now the only route. And the prices there reflect not just demand for a knockout fixture, but the premium of watching England in a Round of 16 tie against one of the tournament hosts in one of football's most iconic stadiums.
The atmosphere at the Azteca will be extraordinary. The vast majority of the people who should be there — the ballot winners, the supporter club members who planned their trips around this — may not be able to afford to walk through the gates. "FIFA has deliberately designed" that outcome. Their words, not ours.
