England and Scotland supporters eager to attend this summer's World Cup are encountering exorbitant prices on FIFA's official resale platform, with tickets being listed at multiples of their original face value.
As of Tuesday, over 6,100 tickets for the two home nations' six group stage matches were available through the platform. FIFA has not officially declared these games sold out and may release additional tickets in the coming weeks, leaving fans with a difficult choice: pay the inflated resale prices now or wait in hopes of a more affordable official release.
Supporters face paying many times the value of a ticket if they use FIFA's resale platform.
The platform itself adds to the cost, taking a 30% fee—split evenly between buyer and seller—on each transaction. Sellers, who are typically individuals who secured tickets during earlier sales phases, set their own prices.
For England's matches, the situation is particularly stark. A total of 3,198 tickets are currently listed for resale. The cheapest available ticket for England's opening match against Croatia, including fees, is priced at $898 (£628)—more than triple its category three face value of $265 (£201).
The most extreme markups are seen in the lowest-priced category four tickets. Originally sold for as little as $60 (£45) in the October ballot, only two such tickets for the Croatia match are now listed, at $1,955 (£1,486) and $2,300 (£1,748). Across all categories for England's three group games, some asking prices reach as high as $17,250 (£13,110).
England's other group fixtures offer slightly lower, but still steep, resale costs. The most affordable option currently is a category two ticket for the match against Ghana in Boston, listed at $805 (£612) compared to its original $430 (£327) price. The cheapest available category one ticket is also for this fixture, priced at $1,208 (£918) against a face value of $600 (£456).
With large expatriate communities expected to travel to host cities like Dallas, Boston, and New York, demand remains high. Many members of the England Supporters Travel Club who missed out in the initial ballot are planning trips in the hope of securing tickets, potentially facing these significant costs if they turn to the resale market.