$10,990 to watch a football match. That is what FIFA is now charging for the most expensive ticket to the 2026 World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey — up from roughly $8,680 when tickets went on sale after December’s tournament draw. For comparison, the priciest seat at the 2022 final in Qatar cost about $1,600.

The price hike, reported by The Associated Press and The Guardian on Thursday, coincided with the latest batch of ticket sales after the 48-team field was finalized. Fans who logged on found a glitch-ridden website, hours-long queues, and dynamic pricing — the same demand-driven model that has drawn fury in concert ticketing, now applied to the world’s most-watched sporting event.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has called the tournament’s ticket demand equivalent to “the request for 1,000 years of World Cups at once.” He has not addressed who can afford to answer it. Category 2 final tickets now run $7,380. Category 3 — the cheapest band available — is $5,785. FIFA has pledged $60 tickets for the most loyal supporters of each team, likely 400 to 700 per match. A generous gesture, in a tournament of 104 games.

Sixty-nine Democratic members of the US Congress wrote to Infantino last month, warning that dynamic pricing “starkly contrasts with FIFA’s core mission to promote the accessible and inclusive promotion and development of soccer globally.” Their letter called the 2026 tournament “the most financially exclusionary and inaccessible to date.” FIFA also collects 15 percent from both buyer and seller on its resale platform, which Infantino has defended as legitimate commerce under US law.

The 2026 World Cup, spread across 11 American cities plus three in Mexico and two in Canada, opens on June 11. It has been billed as a celebration for everyone. The ticket prices suggest a rather narrower guest list.

Sources