Fans voice concerns over high costs for World Cup in Mexico as blockchain solutions fail to bridge the gap

The 2026 FIFA World Cup was supposed to be a celebration across three nations. For many Mexican fans, it’s turning into a spectator sport they can only watch from the outside.

Ticket prices for the tournament, jointly hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico, range from $140 for group-stage matches to over $8,680 for the final. Hospitality packages climb as high as $73,200. Those numbers represent a dramatic escalation from the 2022 tournament in Qatar, and they’ve triggered a wave of frustration that has now reached the highest levels of Mexican government.

A president steps in

On June 15, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum publicly called on FIFA to reconsider its pricing structure. Her argument was straightforward: the costs effectively lock out the majority of local supporters from attending matches in their own country.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has countered that average face-value tickets sit below $500. That claim is contested, particularly when you factor in high-demand matches where prices surge well beyond that threshold.

FIFA’s original bidding process for the 2026 tournament suggested a price range of $21 to $323 for group games. The gap between those early projections and the current reality is wide enough to drive a team bus through.

NFTs sell out, but stadiums don’t

In an attempt to modernize the fan experience, FIFA has leaned into blockchain technology in several ways. The organization launched “Right-to-Buy” NFTs on its FIFA Collect platform, essentially digital collectibles that grant holders access to purchase tickets. NFT drops tied to Mexico City matches sold out in as little as 24 minutes.

As of early June, several group-stage matches in Mexico were available on secondary markets below their original face value. In English: scalpers couldn’t even move these tickets at cost.

The blockchain integrations don’t stop at NFTs. FIFA has partnered with Chiliz for fan tokens, piloted on-chain ticketing solutions using Avalanche, and incorporated Chainlink oracles for prediction markets. The South African Football Association launched its own $SAFA fan token on May 21 through a Chiliz partnership. A prediction market token called $ADI has also entered the ecosystem.

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