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World Cup 2026 ticket holders are owed thousands of pounds by Fifa for tickets they resold on the tournament’s official marketplace, BBC Sport has found.
Fifa’s terms indicate payment should be made within 60 calendar days of a transaction, but some people who sold tickets on the website in early October have still not received their money.
Fifa, which has come under criticism for its World Cup ticket pricing, declined to provide a statement explaining the delays.
BBC Sport understands the issues stem from Fifa needing to obtain additional bank details from those affected before payments can be processed.
The tickets in question were part of the pre-sale draw which ran for 10 days in September, when one million tickets were made available.
Only Visa cardholders were eligible to apply. It is not known how many fans in total have been affected by the issue.
England supporter Iain is owed nearly £650 for a ticket he sold 65 days ago for Canada’s opening game in Toronto, money he had hoped to put towards England seats now the fixtures have been confirmed.
“Fifa are generating billions from this World Cup but can’t seem to do basic payment processing on time,” he said.
“The delay looks to be impacting many people.”
‘Owed more than £8,000’
A Mexico fan, who did not want to be named, showed us evidence that he was owed more than £8,000 for sales that all took place over 60 days ago.
“It sucks, they just seem to be fumbling around,” he said.
“I’ve had to move money to pay off my credit card.”
Some of those impacted told BBC Sport they received an email last month from Fifa requesting bank details, despite earlier correspondence saying refunds would be made automatically to their original payment card.
Fifa’s resale marketplace opened on 2 October, allowing most ticket holders to list their seats for the tournament at a price of their choosing.
The governing body takes a 15% fee from both buyer and seller.
Although the main ticket ballot only opened on 11 December, some fans who secured seats in the earlier sales phase – before the World Cup draw was made – have already resold tickets on the platform.
At the same time, many tickets are also being listed on unofficial resale sites.
Fifa has warned people against using third-party platforms, insisting its own marketplace “is designed to protect from invalid or unauthorised resale”.
Earlier this week, Fifa announced it was introducing a small number of “more affordable” $60 (£45) tickets for all 104 matches at the tournament.
This followed criticism at the price of tickets, with the World Cup final costing up to £6,615.
