Pricing for 2026 World Cup has been under heavy scrutiny, including in New York where city mayor cuts limited tickets.
Save Share facebook x whatsapp-stroke copylink New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani makes the World Cup ticket price reduction announcement in New York [Adam Gray/AP] By The Associated Press Published On 21 May 2026 21 May 2026 Some lucky New York City residents will soon get a chance to snag cheap seats to this summer’s high-priced World Cup.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced on Thursday that 1,000 tickets costing $50 will be made available to city residents of the city of more than 8 million for the world’s most watched sporting event.
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The tickets will be available for seven of the eight games played at the 82,000-seat MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, across the river from Manhattan. The lone exception is the high demand July 19 final, where some seats are costing nearly $33,000.
The tickets will also include free round-trip bus transportation to the stadium and will be distributed via a lottery starting May 25.
With persistent concerns about the sky-high costs for tickets to the games, Mamdani said the city ensure the ones they distribute go to New York City residents and are not resold on the secondary market.
He said the tickets will be non-transferable, with a “variety of ways” used by city officials to verify residency. They will only be handed out directly to fans as they board buses on game day.
“We are making sure that working people will not be priced out of the game that they helped to create,” Mamdani said.
The Democrat, who took office in January, said the effort underscores how his administration is not simply focused on making everyday things like housing and groceries more affordable.
“It extends to making it possible for every New Yorker to take part in the things that make us human,” he said.
During his campaign, Mamdani called on FIFA, football’s global governing body, to make it cheaper for New Yorkers to go to games by setting aside 15% of tickets at discounted prices. He had launched a petition calling on FIFA to reverse its plan to set ticket prices based on demand.
The $50 tickets don’t come directly from FIFA, but from those allotted to New York and New Jersey’s joint host committee for the games, according to the mayor’s office.
Previously, FIFA had made some $60 tickets available for every game at the tournament in North America following backlash over exorbitant prices.
Those reduced price tickets, though, went to the national federations of the teams playing, with the federations deciding how to distribute them to loyal fans who have attended previous games at home and away.
Besides the final, the home stadium for both the NFL’s New York Giants and New York Jets is set to host five group World Cup matches and two knockout stage games. Group stage matches for former winners Brazil, France, Germany and England, along with other nations, begin on June 13.
