What to know
- A Toronto local purchased tickets to the Iraq-Senegal FIFA World Cup match for approximately $222.
- The tickets were purchased through FIFA’s official resale marketplace rather than a third-party reseller.
- Some Toronto World Cup matches still have face-value tickets available through FIFA’s exchange platform.
- Resale prices for higher-demand matches, including Canada games, remain significantly more expensive.
- Fans willing to be flexible on matchups and seating may still find more affordable options.
After months of hearing about four-figure World Cup ticket prices, I wasn’t expecting to find a seat for $222.
Some people might not think that’s much of a score: nosebleed seats in a venue with temporary bleachers built even higher than usual at BMO Field, for two teams to which I have no personal connection.
I was born in London, England. I sat high up to see Messi last year and it’s fine. I don’t care that much that I need to be close. I just want to take in the vibe and I’m going with a lifelong soccer fan.
But, by all accounts, attending a FIFA World Cup match is a once-in-a-lifetime experience — a hyped-up, chant-filled, communal celebration of the world’s most popular team sport with about 5 billion fans engaged in the last tournament in Qatar 2022, according to FIFA.
No doubt Iraqi and Senegalese immigrants will be travelling from across Canada, while others will fly in from around the world to support their teams. For one afternoon, I’ll get to be part of it.
Why I stopped looking at StubHub
You might be avoiding all things World Cup, but for those of us who love team sports, or jump on the bandwagon, rooting for our ancestral or native country, it is exciting to have the premiere championship in Toronto — and disappointing not just how expensive tickets were at face value, but how damn hard they were to get even when you signed up on the official FIFA site.
First, you had to know to register, then you had to create a FIFA ID on the FIFA tickets and hospitality page, then you would get periodic emails alerting you to the various ticket sales phases, until, finally, it was time for single ticket sales. I was on there right on time but didn’t get any. In fact, the countdown clock suddenly put me back from 9 minutes back to 27. I tried again on the other drops and, again, no luck.
My next hope was StubHub. Boy, as you all know by now, was I wrong. Tickets for the Canada vs Bosnia & Herzegovina game, June 12, and the “round of 32” — which potentially could be England — are about $1200 for the cheapest. They have only just started to drop this week, in the high $900s now, for the Canada game. This is likely more due to panic that the games are approaching than the Ticket Sales Act that went into effect in Ontario on April 25.
Of course, anyone now reselling tickets in Ontario sees a warning on the final tab about “a new law in Ontario (Bill 97) includes pricing restrictions for the secondary sale of tickets,” with a link to the bill and a box to check, acknowledging that “Because StubHub connects buyers and sellers as a marketplace—and does not have visibility into the original price paid for tickets—we encourage all sellers to review applicable rules before listing.” Basically you’re on the honour system to list the ticket for what you paid, at the risk of legal consequences and/or fine.
How I found a cheap FIFA World Cup Toronto ticket
So how did I get them? At about 3 a.m., when I happened to be up, I signed back into the FIFA ticket portal, scrolled to “tickets,” clicked “explore details,” where you are presented with three options: last-minute tickets (last I checked, there’s none), “marketplace” and “hospitality.” I clicked on “marketplace,” which is the resell/exchange portal. Enter the captcha. Sometimes you will get a queue position countdown, but I didn’t at 3 a.m. You then sign in with your email and password, then are sent a sign-in code.
Once there, filter to the city. You will see all the games. Today, for example, there is nothing available for the Canada game, and “limited availability” for the rest. Nothing for “Round of 32” yet. The cheapest tickets, at the time of this post, were $222.34 for Ghana and Panama; $287.50 for Panama and Croatia, $534.75 for Senegal and Iraq.
So keep checking the FIFA site, as travel plans change, and they have to sell at face value or wait for the resellers to drop their prices on StubHub, as they start “competing with one another” to have the lowest listing at the top.
