Thousands of Unsold World Cup Tickets Suddenly Disappear From FIFA Website

Thousands of tickets for the 2026 FIFA World Cup have been abruptly pulled just days before the tournament, which has already shown signs of softer demand among soccer fans.

According to estimates from Ticketdata.com, about 74,000 tickets were available directly through the organization until Saturday, at which point the total fell to 44,000 and then to under 30,000, where it now sits. FIFA has not offered an explanation for the decline, which Ticketdata.com said was due to an unspecified "sudden inventory removal."

Fans online have speculated that tickets may have been given away to sponsors or other parties, or that this marked an attempt to create artificial scarcity to boost demand.

Newsweek contacted FIFA via the Switzerland-headquartered organisation’s online portal on Monday.

Resale prices have begun to recover from weeks of declines and host city businesses warning that interest was subdued for this year's competition.

Much of this was attributed to FIFA's pricing model for the 2026 tournament, with has seen prices climb significantly higher than in past competitions, drawing criticism from fans and certain host state politicians.

This is a developing story. More to come.

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This story was originally published June 1, 2026 at 4:36 AM.