There will be six 2026 World Cup games in the Bay Area, and tickets for those matches are already seemingly available online.
But FIFA, the tournament’s organizer, says it hasn’t released any tickets for the global soccer event to be hosted in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. And yet, sellers on online ticket resale marketplaces like StubHub and Vivid Seats are already offering 2026 World Cup tickets for thousands of dollars, including for all games to be played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
Vivid Seats, for example, is offering tickets for a June 26, 2026 World Cup match at Levi’s Stadium, but there is no such game in the Bay Area that day on FIFA’s official schedule. Vivid Seats’ post identifies the game as “Match 63, Group G,” which according to FIFA’s official schedule will not be played in the Bay Area, but Seattle. Ticket prices for this supposed game go from $1,800 up to $10,000 for a VIP ticket.
VividSeats is selling tickets for a 2026 World Cup match on June 26 in the Bay Area that is not in the official FIFA schedule.
As of October 2024, FIFA hasn’t released any 2026 World Cup tickets of any type — including tickets that might go to partners, sponsors, clients, marketing agencies, advertisers or via hospitality packages. The organization expects to begin selling tickets “no earlier than late 2025.” The only thing that FIFA has made available is the “right to buy” two World Cup tickets for people who participate in FIFA Collect promotions, but the organization hasn’t sold, distributed or allocated those tickets.
The international organization, headquartered in Switzerland, released a statement advising “any fan wishing to purchase tickets for the FIFA World Cup 26 to be wary of non-FIFA official ticketing websites that claim to be selling tickets already.” ESPN reported on FIFA’s resale warning at the end of September.
In a statement, StubHub did not address any concerns of World Cup ticket fraud on its platform, saying only: “Restricting consumers to purchase and sell tickets exclusively on a single platform limits consumer choice and stifles competition. Fans deserve the freedom to buy and sell tickets through the platforms they prefer. At StubHub, we believe that an open marketplace creates a more equitable ticketing ecosystem, ensuring that everyone has access to live events, including the FIFA World Cup.”
Vivid Seats didn’t reply to a request for comment.
As of Oct. 22, both StubHub and Vivid Seats had hundreds of tickets on offer for the games that will be played in the Bay Area — including the June 26 game for sale on Vivid Seats that’s not on FIFA’s official schedule. That said, Levi’s Stadium will host six World Cup matches between June 13 and July 1, 2026.
The 2026 World Cup games scheduled in the Bay Area are:
June 13, 2026: Group stage
June 16, 2026: Group stage
June 19, 2026: Group stage
June 22, 2026: Group stage
June 25, 2026: Group stage
July 1, 2026: Round of 32
This will be the first World Cup hosted by three countries simultaneously and the first to showcase 48 national teams. That means that it’ll also be the one with the most matches: 108 in total, played in 11 cities in the U.S. — including Santa Clara — three in Mexico, and two in Canada. The rest of the U.S. host cities are Seattle, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, Kansas City, New York/New Jersey, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Miami.
Except for the three host countries, no other national team has qualified for the tournament yet.
While FIFA hasn’t said much about when exactly the tickets are going on sale, it is asking fans to register on its website to get alerts and “find out how to buy” tickets to the 2026 World Cup.
For the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, FIFA began a “random selection draw sales period” about 10 months before the start of the tournament. If this holds, FIFA will conduct its first draw for tickets around August 2025. It held two ticket lotteries for Qatar.
Buying tickets right now through the online ticket resale marketplaces is a bad idea, not only because FIFA recommends against it but also because they may not be transferrable through third parties.
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When applying for Qatar 2022 tickets, buyers had to provide their and their guests’ full name, date of birth, nationality, country of residence, and a passport or national ID. Tickets for Qatar included the holder’s name. There’s no indication that the tickets currently for sale in online resale marketplaces in the U.S. are transferable. For the 2022 tournament, FIFA only allowed reselling and transferring tickets through its official resale site. In its statement, StubHub stressed that “with our FanProtect Guarantee, fans are fully protected—if there’s an issue with a ticket, we’ll work to find an equivalent or better one, or provide a full refund.”
While most tickets on the resale marketplaces are currently offered for between $1,400 and $14,000 per ticket, depending on the match, the official prices for Qatar 2022 went from $55 to $620 for the opening match; $11 to $220 for a regular match; and up to $1,600 for the most expensive ticket for the final, when bought through the official FIFA ticket site.
These mostly affordable prices are a good reason to be patient, register, and participate in the organization’s official draws rather than buying suspicious tickets currently offered on resale ticketing sites.
