Residents take commemorative photos at a World Cup promotional plaza in downtown Guadalajara, Mexico, on Tuesday, two days before the 2026 North America World Cup kicks off. [Yonhap]
Residents take commemorative photos at a World Cup promotional plaza in downtown Guadalajara, Mexico, on Tuesday, two days before the 2026 North America World Cup kicks off. [Yonhap]

With the 2026 North America World Cup just two days away, concerns over weak ticket demand are mounting as 176,000 unsold tickets pile up on the official resale market.

According to the Financial Times on Tuesday, 176,000 group-stage tickets are listed on FIFA's official resale platform, with FIFA itself directly selling roughly 15,000 additional group-stage tickets. The median resale price has tumbled 20 percent over the past month. After accounting for the platform's 26 percent fee, most resellers are likely to take a loss, the FT said.

FIFA's ticketing policy has drawn much of the blame for the glut. The governing body allowed households to purchase up to 40 tickets each, removed the cap on resale prices and for the first time introduced dynamic pricing, letting ticket prices fluctuate with demand.

The combination drove initial prices sharply higher, attracting a wave of speculators. As the tournament's opening approached, unsold inventory flooded the market all at once.

The slowdown is concentrated in certain national team matches. Around 16,000 tickets for Iran's games remain unsold, with the cheapest general admission seats dropping to $138 (approx. 210,000 won).

By contrast, Mexico's home matches have only about 300 tickets available per game, trading at four times face value. The Colombia-Portugal match in Miami commands the highest premium of all — six times face value — with a median asking price of $3,000 (4.57 million won) for remaining tickets.

Final tickets start at $4,185 (6.37 million won), with premium seats reaching $8,680 (13.22 million won). Fan groups estimate that following a single team throughout the tournament will cost roughly five times what it did at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

Meanwhile, FIFA expects to generate more than $3 billion (4.57 trillion won) from ticket and hospitality sales — more than three times what it collected at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

슈퍼컴퓨터도 韓 손들어줬다…옵타, 체코전 한국 승리 확률 42.9% 예측

슈퍼컴퓨터도 韓 손들어줬다…옵타, 체코전 한국 승리 확률 42.9% 예측

[헤럴드경제=장윤우 기자] 축구 통계 전문 업체 옵타가 한국의 2026 북중미 월드컵 체코전 승리 확률을 42.9%로 예측했다. 체코의 승리 확률(31.1%)보다 11.8%포인트 높은
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