The 2026 World Cup is here, after years of qualifying games, host nation planning and plenty of controversy, the 23rd edition of the FIFA World Cup gets underway in Mexico as the host nation face South Africa in the Group A opening match.

In the build-up, one of the most fascinating websites to monitor has been the excellent TicketData.com with their up to the minute tracker relating to the fluctuating prices of World Cup tickets on the secondary market given that FIFA opted to use the dynamic pricing model.

Given that Mexico will only stage 13 of the 104 total number of matches, demand for all games, especially that of ‘El Tri’ have remained high with Mexico and Colombia sharing the top billing of ‘most expensive teams to watch at the World Cup’.

With the countdown underway ahead of the opening match at the Estadio Azteca, there has been a late surge in demand with tickets soaring 41% over the past three days with a ‘get in’ price to see Javier Aguirre’s side face South Africa now costing $3,700 on the secondary markets.

It was generally regarded among ticketing analysts that as the tournament got closer, the inflated prices for many of the games involving lower profile nations would drop considerably.

However, that has not been the pattern and in the lead-up pre tournament the overall ticket price has seen an uplift of 20% in the past 30 days with the average ‘get in’ price for the tournament now standing at $667.

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