Ticket Pricing Under Fire
The 2026 World Cup opened in Toronto with a much‑anticipated clash between Canada and Bosnia & Herzegovina, but the excitement was tempered by a startling sight: more than a thousand seats in BMO Field sat empty while the official attendance was recorded at 43,002.
Ticket buyers faced steep price tags, with Category 1 and Category 2 entries ranging from $1,645 to $2,240, a cost that kept many supporters from filling the stadium.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has repeatedly defended the tournament’s dynamic pricing model, arguing that it reflects market demand, yet the visible emptiness has sparked a backlash among observers and fans alike.
The issue is not isolated to Toronto; similar scenes unfolded at the Estadio Akron in Guadalajara during the South Korea versus Czechia fixture, where hundreds of seats remained unoccupied despite a reported crowd of over 43,000.
With only 29 of the 104 scheduled matches sold out before kickoff, governing bodies are under pressure to reconcile revenue goals with the optics of half‑filled venues, a tension that could shape the tournament’s legacy.