The World Cup that kicks off next month in North America has been defined by sticker shock ever since tickets first became available.
Resale sites spit out unprecedented numbers for soccer. And some seats to the final that cost more than a two-week honeymoon in St. Barts.
But of the 104 matches scheduled for the five-week tournament, none has created a more eye-popping market than the first-round game between Portugal and Colombia.
Slated for June 27 in Miami—and likely featuring Cristiano Ronaldo in his final World Cup—it now costs more than the Super Bowl.
This week, the cheapest resale tickets for that game were averaging about $2,500, according to TicketData , which tracks activity across resale sites. That’s the priciest group-stage game that doesn’t feature any of the tournament’s three co-hosts—the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. And it’s even higher than the average get-in price for the 2025 Super Bowl, which was $2,109, according to TicketData.
On FIFA’s ticket-resale site this week, prices to Portugal-Colombia ranged from $2,300 to a staggering $5.75 million. And those didn’t include FIFA’s 15% fee to buyers, or its 15% fee to sellers.
Andy Loaiza, who grew up in Bogotá, was prepared to splurge by spending as much as $1,500 per ticket to see his beloved Colombian national team play Portugal near where he now lives in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Then he saw the actual tickets on FIFA’s resale platform.
“I have to admit, the FOMO and the heat of the moment,” he says, “I just got caught by it.”
He wound up paying $8,650 for three tickets, or about $2,883 each.
“Honestly, I still think it’s crazy,” added Loaiza, a 35-year-old airplane-repair supervisor. But, he explained, “I love the national team so much.”
At a World Cup where the unprecedented 48-team format has diluted the opening group stage, the matchup is almost a perfect storm. Both Portugal and Colombia rank in FIFA’s top 15, making it one of only four games between two top-15 nations in the opening round.
Then there is the game’s location: Nearly 500,000 Colombian people live in Florida alone. It was ticketless fans’ fervor for Los Cafeteros , as the team is known, that helped create the chaotic scenes at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium when thousands swarmed the 2024 Copa America final against Argentina.
FIFA says its regular and resale prices align with industry trends, and that its World Cup revenue fuels its work as a nonprofit supporting soccer in more than 200 nations.
Resale prices change by the minute and vary by site. On SeatGeek, for instance, the World Cup opener between Mexico and South Africa at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City edged out Portugal-Colombia for the priciest group-stage game. The Mexico game had a get-in price of $2,771 this week, compared with $2,761 for Portugal-Colombia, according to SeatGeek.
But on FIFA’s official platform, resale above face value isn’t permitted for Mexico matches. That reflects local laws, which curb the practice.
Experts generally advise people to wait to buy resale tickets, since prices often come down as sellers get antsy. But Loaiza couldn’t wait. He said he struggled to explain to his American-born co-workers why he would pay nearly $3,000 to watch a group-stage World Cup game.
“I told them it’s like going to the Super Bowl,” he said.
