Mexico is in the grip of World Cup fever as an unprecedented 500 million ticket requests have poured in for the 104 matches to be played across Mexico, the United States and Canada.
Jurgen Mainka, director of the FIFA Office in Mexico, called the level of interest unlike anything seen before. Games in Mexico will be played in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey starting June 11.
“There are 500 million tickets [requested],” he noted. “If we had 500 million tickets today, we could sell 500 million tickets. I haven’t seen this in any other event, product, service or industry.”
In actuality, “only” 6 million tickets are available for all 104 tournament matches in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada from June 11 through the June 19 finale at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Mexico will host 13 matches in the five-week tournament, including the opening game June 11, Mexico against South Africa, at Estadio Azteca, renamed Estadio Banorte for marketing purposes.
In total, Mexico City will host five matches: three in the group stage, one in the round of 32 and one in the round of 16 (leading into the quarterfinals).
Guadalajara — or, more accurately, Estadio Akron in adjacent Zapopan, Jalisco — will host four matches, all in the group stage, including one on the first day, June 11, between South Korea and a to-be-determined qualifier (Denmark, Ireland, North Macedonia or the Czech Republic).
Monterrey’s Estadio BBVA will also host four matches, starting with Tunisia against either Ukraine, Sweden, Poland or Albania on June 14 and finishing with a round-of-32 match on June 29.
Ticket applications were submitted between Dec. 11 and Jan. 13, averaging 15 million per day, according to the newspaper El Informador and other media outlets. FIFA President Gianni Infantino credited fans worldwide for the “extraordinary response,” but he also had to address global backlash over high ticket prices.
The Mexico vs. South Africa opening match in Mexico City ranked among the five most requested games globally, a list topped by the June 27 Portugal-Colombia match in Miami and the July 19 final. Another game in Mexico — Mexico vs. South Korea in Zapopan on June 18 — also landed near the top.
Mainka said FIFA and Mexico’s Federal Consumer Protection Agency (Profeco) are building a new digital platform to ensure transparent, lawful ticket sales and limit scalping in the secondary market.
Profeco and FIFA say ticket allocations will be finalized in February.
The first ticket to the opening match was presented by Infantino to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum at a ceremony five months ago. Sheinbaum said she planned to give the ticket “to a young girl who likes soccer and wouldn’t [otherwise] have an opportunity” to attend the opening game.
With reports from Milenio and El Informador
