Mayor of New York City Zohran Mamdani has achieved a remarkable concessionary deal with the world footballing authority FIFA to give 1,000 New Yorkers the chance to be present at the 2026 World Cup finals for only $50 each, after his personal interventions and direct discussions with officials to try and ensure greater access to the event for residents.
Tickets for these seven matches, which are located at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey and include group games, a round of 32 and a round of 16 match (but not the final on July 19), will be allocated through a ballot system.
The round-trip bus fare to and from the venue will also be paid for, making this an affordable deal even for working-class individuals. For the New York City resident, only, it will be made impossible for them to resell tickets, as they will be issued on match days, not before.
Said Mayor Mamdani of the arrangement. “This deal is essential to ensure that ordinary, working-class residents of New York aren’t locked out of this historic event and pushed to the periphery by exorbitant prices that are expected to set a new benchmark”. The FIFA body opposed the plan initially on concerns that it would set an undesirable precedent, before granting an exemption in an unparalleled act.
This deal becomes one of the most substantial public ticket accesses in the 2026 event, and may go some way in appeasing concerns about what many consider to be astronomically high World Cup prices across the United States.
