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FIFA President Gianni Infantino has defended the ticket prices for the soccer World Cup and brushed off visa issues to the United States, telling critics to “chill, relax.”
The World Cup kicks off at 3 p.m. ET on June 11, when one of the three hosts, Mexico, plays South Africa in Mexico City, while Team USA faces Paraguay at 9 p.m. on June 12.
FIFA has been widely criticized for ticket prices, with the cheapest for group games costing $140, compared with the $69 charged during the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
There have also been issues with U.S. visas, with a Somali referee, Omar Abdulkadir Artan, who won Africa’s referee of the year in 2025, being turned back by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) over the weekend.
“We don’t control everything. We try. We’ll discuss, we will speak, we’ll see. Maybe sometimes it’s good as well to just chill, relax,” Infantino said on June 10, during an event in Mexico City.
‘We Try to Solve Everything’
“We try to solve everything. Sometimes, to immediately start screaming and shouting has the opposite effect of finding a solution,” Infantino said.
“Believe me when I tell you, or don’t believe me if you don’t want, but we try always to find solutions, always. But then we need to respect that we are not the kings of the world who can rule over governments and police forces.”
Infantino also praised U.S. President Donald Trump, whom he presented with the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize at the World Cup draw last December.
“Without his engagement and his involvement, I think it would have been impossible, as simple as that,” Infantino said.
“It would’ve been impossible to organize a World Cup in the United States. He understood immediately the magnitude of the World Cup, the impact of the World Cup.”
The World Cup begins with a group stage that runs from June 11–27 and consists of 72 matches across 16 cities in Mexico, Canada, and the United States.
The top two teams in each group, as well as eight third-place finishers with the best records or most points overall, will advance to the elimination rounds, which will terminate in the final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on July 18.
Tickets for the final are priced at up to $8,680, and hospitality seats at up to $73,200.
Dean Foti, a coaching director for a regional youth soccer organization in upstate New York, told The Epoch Times recently that there was resentment among coaches and families who had hoped to visit World Cup venues this summer.
“Unfortunately, the common fan has been priced out of attending,” Foti told The Epoch Times.
The head of soccer’s world governing body appeared to blame the market.
Secondary Market Danger
Infantino said cheaper tickets would have been snapped up on the black market and sold to people, with the profit going to ticket scalpers.
“If you sell it at a lower price point in this particular market, it would have gone, which is perfectly legal in this country ... in secondary markets at much, much, much higher prices, and where would the money go then?” Infantino said.
A National Guard officer stands guard outside a stadium that will host FIFA World Cup matches in Guadalajara, Mexico, on June 9, 2026. Matias Delacroix/AP
Infantino said the average ticket price for the tournament was below $500, comparable to other U.S. sports during their playoffs.
He said FIFA had offered 130,000 $60 tickets to national federations for their regular supporters, traveling from abroad.
Infantino said he was not worried about investigations into ticketing launched by the attorneys general of Texas, California, New Jersey, and New York.
“When it comes to these legal investigations or complaints that were made in some states in the U.S., we are very relaxed about,” Infantino said.
“If we do something wrong, then probably everyone selling tickets in North America is doing something wrong, as well.”
