The roar of the crowd is coming, but for many fans, the price of admission is leaving them stunned. As the 2026 FIFA World Cup approaches, ticket prices for matches at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood have soared to levels that feel more like a luxury than a live sporting event.

The United States is set to face Paraguay on June 12 in Los Angeles, yet the cheapest available seats are already hovering above $1,100. Some listings for that game have climbed to nearly $4,000, making the U.S. opener a steep investment for fans hoping to cheer from the stands.

And it's not just the early matches. The tournament's final is averaging around $13,000 per ticket—more than eight times the top face-value price for the previous World Cup championship. That kind of sticker shock is raising tough questions about whether the beautiful game is becoming accessible only to the wealthy.

FIFA has pointed to a small batch of low-cost tickets starting at $60, but data shows fewer than 2% of total tickets were released at that price level. Critics argue these affordable seats are more symbolic than substantial.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino defended the pricing model, saying the organization is simply reflecting market realities. "We have to look at the market. We are in a market in which entertainment is the most developed in the world, so we have to apply market rates," he said Tuesday at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills.

Infantino also addressed the resale market: "In the US it is permitted to resell tickets. If you were to sell tickets at a price which is too low, these tickets will be resold at a much higher price. As a matter of fact, even though some people are saying that the ticket prices we have are high, they still end up on the resale market at an even higher price, more than double of our price." He added, "You cannot go to watch in the US a college game, not even speaking about a top professional game of a certain level, for less than $300."

For fans, the dream of witnessing World Cup history in person now comes with a hefty price tag—one that's forcing many to reconsider their game-day plans.