Football fans have been issued a warning over match ticket scams ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The 23rd World Cup will kick off on 11 June, with the first game held between Mexico and South Africa, as England bids to win the men’s tournament for the first time since 1966.
But football lovers have been warned to look out for scams as ‘sky-high’ prices for legitimate tickets risk pushing people into the arms of fraudsters.
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It comes as Santander reveals more than £152,306 was stolen from its UK customers through football ticket scams between January and September, up from £127,544 over the same nine month period in 2024.
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Liz Ziegler, fraud prevention director at Lloyds Bank, said: “With anticipation building for next year’s World Cup, and both Scotland and England having already secured their places, it is easy for fans to get swept up in the excitement. Unfortunately, scammers are ready to take advantage of that enthusiasm.”
How to stay safe when buying World Cup 2026 tickets
Official advice on the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) website states fans wanting World Cup match tickets should only buy them through the official FIFA website – www.fifa.com.
No tickets will be sold at stadiums, while officially bought tickets will have to be scanned via the FIFA World Cup app. There is no guarantee printed tickets or screenshots will be accepted at stadium gates. ID checks may also be carried out.
Fans are being urged against buying tickets through unofficial resale websites, social media or third-party vendors.
Some scammers are believed to be selling the same ticket to multiple buyers, which may still scan at stadium gates but could be flagged as invalid or already used meaning the owner is denied entry.
James Andrew, editor of MoneyWeek’s sister publication FourFourTwo, said: “The age old adage is still true to this day, ‘If something looks too good to be true, then it probably is.’ My advice on avoiding being scammed is not to buy World Cup tickets from anyone other than FIFA or one of the nations’ football associations.”
Laura Carter, head of fraud customer experience at Santander, added: “Make sure the website you are buying from is secure. When buying online, check the payment pages by looking for the padlock symbol in the address bar. The website should start with ‘https’.”
You should protect yourself further by paying for any tickets with a debit or credit card, rather than through bank transfer or PayPal.
People using debit or credit cards for payments may be able to claw back payments through ‘chargeback’ if a ticket is found to be invalid after purchase.
Those paying by credit card have extra protections under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act – if the price of the missold goods or service is worth more than £100 and less than £30,000.
Ticket prices ‘scandalous’
The third phase of ticket sales for the World Cup has been open on the FIFA website since 11 December. This is the first phase since the full match schedule was announced.
Each household can request up to four tickets per match and a maximum of 40 across the tournament.
The ‘Random Selection Draw’ is open until 13 January and FIFA has said everyone will have the same chance of winning a ticket, no matter when they apply.
Fans will find out if they have been successful in February – those who have secured tickets will be charged automatically. But it means there is no guarantee of bagging a ticket.
The Football Association (FA) has also received an 8% allocation of the World Cup match tickets to share between members.
Members of the England Supporters Travel Club will be assigned tickets from this allocation via a ballot weighted towards members with the highest amount of loyalty points.
The group will receive an email with an access code for a FIFA portal, where they can apply from 15 December.
The official England Supporters Travel Club allocation is ringfenced to members meaning non-members cannot access them.
Tickets for the England group stage games are selling for up to £523 (based on currency conversion through XE.com), while tickets for the final on 19 July are going for as much as £6,491. The lowest price on offer for the final is £3,119.
The price of tickets has been heavily criticised by fan group Football Supporters Europe (FSE), who have called for an ‘immediate halt’ to sales.
A statement from the fan group said it was “astonished by the extortionate ticket prices imposed by FIFA on the most dedicated supporters”.
James Andrew, from FourFourTwo, said the high prices were “scandalous”.
“Travel and accommodation are already sky high and now the ticket prices have been released and they are also extremely costly. Paying four figures for football and you would expect it to be for a Premier League season ticket – not one game. The sky-high ticket prices for this tournament are a betrayal to football fans across the globe,” he added.
Find out everything you need to know about the World Cup ticket application process on FourFourTwo’s website.
MoneyWeek contacted FIFA asking for comment.
