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How Does the FIFA 2026 Official Ticket Resale and Exchange Marketplace Work?
Written by Aviran Zazon | Last updated on January 11, 2026
If you missed out in the January 2026 lottery, or you bought tickets and later realised you can’t go then FIFA’s official Resale and Exchange Marketplace is a way to buy and sell World Cup 2026 tickets before the big event.
The big idea is simple, as tickets stay inside FIFA’s system. You’re not meeting someone outside a stadium. FIFA takes the ticket off the seller, sells it to a new buyer, and then reissues it digitally so it sits in the buyer’s FIFA ticketing account.
Before we start, it’s worth keeping expectations in check. The marketplace isn’t a magic back door to cheap seats. Supply is entirely driven by what other fans list, and demand for the biggest matches is likely to be relentless right up to kick-off.
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What the FIFA Resale/Exchange marketplace is in practice
At its core, the marketplace is FIFA’s own secondary market hosted on FIFA.com/tickets. It sits alongside the primary sales phases rather than replacing them.
The marketplace has already been open for months and is one of the main places people will keep checking when plans change and extra tickets appear.
Two things shape how it feels to use:
First, it’s account-based. You need a FIFA ticketing account, you sign in (often with a verification code to your email), and everything happens behind that login.
Second, it’s match-by-match. Even if your tickets originated from a package, the marketplace treats anything listed for sale as a single match ticket. That’s why you’ll see people who bought bundles listing individual matches one at a time.
Resale versus exchange and why Mexico is different
FIFA effectively runs two versions of the platform:
- FIFA Resale Marketplace for Canada, the United States, and international users.
- FIFA Exchange Marketplace for residents of Mexico (often shown as Mercado de Intercambio de la FIFA).
The practical difference is pricing. In the Resale Marketplace, listings can be uncapped (meaning sellers can ask any price).
In Mexico’s Exchange Marketplace, listings are capped at the original purchase price because local rules restrict above-face-value resale. So a Mexican resident can list at face value or below, but can’t profit in the same way someone can elsewhere.
This is one reason you’ll see wildly different price behaviour depending on the match location and the buyer’s resident country.
What You Can List on the FIFA Ticket Resale/Exchange Marketplace
FIFA’s marketplace is not a free-for-all. As a rule of thumb, you can list World Cup 2026 tickets only if they were originally bought through FIFA’s official portal during an official sales phase.
These are the big restrictions people tend to trip over:
- Hospitality and ticket-inclusive hospitality packages are not eligible.
- Group sales are not eligible.
- Guest tickets can’t be listed by the guest. Only the original ticket owner (or someone who received a proper transfer) can list.
- Complimentary or promotional tickets, accreditation passes, and certain special products aren’t eligible.
There are also two important “it depends” categories:
Supporter and federation allocation tickets can be more complicated. FIFA’s guidance is that each Participating Member Association sets its own criteria on whether its supporter tickets and conditional supporter tickets can be listed.
In other words, FIFA may provide the mechanism, but the national association can still restrict resale for tickets that came through its supporter allocation.
Accessibility tickets can be listed, but FIFA expects them to remain within the accessibility framework.
They stay labelled as accessibility tickets, and companion ticket rules apply. FIFA also asks buyers to be respectful and only purchase them if they genuinely require them, because supply is limited by stadium configuration.
Selling a Ticket on the FIFA Ticket Resale/Exchange Marketplace
Selling is done from your FIFA ticketing account on the marketplace:
- Go to FIFA.com/tickets and open the World Cup 2026 ticketing area
- Choose the Marketplace section and click Resell/Exchange Now
- Sign in and complete any email verification
- Find your match under My Tickets, select the ticket(s) you want to list
- Set your price and accept the legal terms
- Submit the listing
A couple of practical details make a real difference:
When you list, FIFA shows the lowest prices currently listed for that category (including FIFA’s fee), which nudges you towards pricing competitively.
And once the listing is submitted, the price is locked. If you want to change it, you have to withdraw the ticket and list it again.
Also, FIFA warns there can be a delay between submitting a listing and seeing it appear publicly. That’s normal on systems like this, but it’s something sellers should know so they don’t panic and repost.
Buying Tickets on the FIFA Ticket Resale/Exchange Marketplace
Buying is the mirror image: you sign in, browse what’s available, and pay FIFA directly. The marketplace shows ticket availability by match and category, and the ticket then lands in your FIFA ticketing account after purchase.
A few FIFA-specific quirks are worth spelling out because they surprise people:
- You may have to add tickets to your cart in a very controlled way (often one selection at a time).
- Even if you buy multiple tickets in one transaction, FIFA says seating together is not guaranteed.
- Availability is entirely dependent on what other fans list, so it can feel feast-or-famine for popular fixtures.
Once paid, FIFA reissues the ticket digitally under the buyer’s details. There’s no physical handover, and the official delivery method is mobile tickets via the FIFA World Cup 2026 app closer to the tournament.
FIFA Ticket Resale/Exchange Marketplace Fees and What They Mean
FIFA applies a 15% fee to buyers and a 15% fee to sellers (inclusive of taxes, per the marketplace guidance). In plain English:
- The buyer pays the listed price plus 15%.
- The seller receives the listed price minus 15%.
That’s why the “same” ticket can feel expensive to buy while still feeling disappointing to sell: both sides are paying a cut.
A simple example helps:
If a ticket is listed at $1,000:
- the buyer pays $1,150
- the seller nets $850
This fee structure also explains why the official platform isn’t necessarily cheaper than major secondary sites. FIFA’s fees are broadly in the same ballpark as what big resale platforms charge, even though FIFA’s core selling point is legitimacy rather than bargain prices.
We go into more depth on this topic in our article on FIFA resale fees.
Why the Marketplace Becomes More Useful Later
The marketplace opened in October 2025 and then ran alongside FIFA’s sales phases. As World Cup 2026 approaches, the real value of the platform tends to grow, because people’s plans get messier over time.
That’s when you typically see more listings appear:
- people who bought early and can no longer travel
- fans who overbought “just in case” and then decide to sell
- group plans changing, or someone dropping out
- supporters who applied for multiple rounds and only later realise the costs stack up fast
FIFA also advises sellers to withdraw tickets they intend to use at least a day before kick-off.
Last-minute changes can fail due to processing delays, and there’s also a practical risk. If your ticket is listed, it can potentially be bought while you’re trying to pull it back.
Withdrawing a FIFA Ticket Resale/Exchange Marketplace Listing Without Getting Stuck
If you list a ticket, it becomes unavailable for you to use while it’s on the marketplace. FIFA allows withdrawal, but not in every situation.
You can normally withdraw if:
- the ticket hasn’t sold
- it isn’t sitting in another buyer’s cart
- the platform isn’t in scheduled maintenance
- the resale/exchange period for that product is still open
The “in someone else’s cart” detail is crucial. It means there can be moments where you want to withdraw, but you’re temporarily blocked because a buyer is mid-checkout. That’s another reason FIFA urges people not to leave things too late.
How FIFA’s Marketplace Compares to Other Resale Methods
There are three main ways fans try to buy resale World Cup 2026 tickets, and they each come with trade-offs.
FIFA’s marketplace is the safest from an authenticity point of view, because FIFA controls the transfer and keeps the ticket tied to verified accounts. It’s also the clearest for compliance, especially in Mexico where the exchange rules enforce face value.
Third-party resale sites can be easier to browse and sometimes appear to have “more inventory”, but they also introduce more uncertainty.
This is why it’s well worth using a site like Ticket-Compare.com, which gives you an instant comparison of World Cup 2026, only featuring reliable, well-reviewed sites that offer money-back guarantees.
At the other end of the spectrum, private resale through social media, forums, and messaging groups is the wild west.
Sometimes it’s cheaper, but it’s also where scams thrive, so stick with an aggregator like Ticket-Compare.com.
Table: World Cup 2026 Resale Options Compared
| Resale route | Who controls the ticket | Typical pricing | Fees | Key pros | Key drawbacks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FIFA Resale / Exchange Marketplace | FIFA | Market-driven (face value cap in Mexico only) | 15% buyer + 15% seller | 100% official, tickets reissued in buyer’s name, no delivery risk | High fees, prices can be extreme, limited availability |
| Major resale sites | Third-party platforms | Market-driven, often inflated | ~10–30% | Large inventory, easy checkout, buyer guarantees | Not always FIFA-authorised, high fees, prices can be extreme |
| Ticket comparison sites (e.g. Ticket-Compare.com) | Aggregator | Shows live market prices | Built into seller price | Compares trusted sellers only, saves time, buyer protection | Still secondary market pricing |
| Private resale (social media, forums) | Individual sellers | Varies wildly | None | Sometimes cheaper | Highest scam risk, no protection, tickets may not work |
Turkey vs Romania
FIFA World Cupfrom $45118 available ticketsWales vs Bosnia And Herzegovina
FIFA World Cupfrom $4463 available ticketsSlovakia vs Kosovo
FIFA World CupPoland vs Albania
FIFA World Cupfrom $50696 available tickets
How Does the FIFA 2026 Official Ticket Resale and Exchange Marketplace Work? | Frequently Asked Questions
Can you buy World Cup 2026 tickets after the lottery?
Yes. Even after the January 2026 lottery has ended, there are still several ways to buy World Cup 2026 tickets.
FIFA continues to release tickets through later sales phases, and the official FIFA Resale and Exchange Marketplace allows fans to buy tickets that other supporters have listed.
Availability depends entirely on what is listed by other fans, so popular matches can sell out quickly, while less in-demand games may appear more regularly.
If you miss out on both FIFA sales and resale, the secondary market remains an option — but prices are usually higher.
Are World Cup 2026 tickets transferable?
Yes, but only through FIFA’s system.
World Cup 2026 tickets are digital and account-based, meaning they must be transferred via FIFA’s official ticketing platform.
When a ticket is sold through the FIFA Resale or Exchange Marketplace, FIFA cancels the original ticket and reissues it to the buyer’s account.
We cover this topic in detail in our article on how to transfer FIFA World Cup tickets.
Can you resell World Cup 2026 final tickets?
Yes, provided the ticket is eligible.
Single-match tickets for the World Cup Final can be listed on the FIFA Resale Marketplace if they were originally purchased through FIFA during an official sales phase.
Hospitality packages, complimentary tickets, and certain supporter allocations may be excluded depending on FIFA and federation rules.
Because demand for the final is extreme, resale prices are often very high, and there is no guarantee that a listed ticket will sell.
Conclusion: How Does the FIFA 2026 Official Ticket Resale and Exchange Marketplace Work?
If you want the official route, treat the marketplace like a live feed rather than a shop you visit once. Check frequently, especially after key moments like:
- the end of a sales phase
- major fixture announcements or scheduling updates
- travel price spikes (when people start backing out)
If you’re selling, be realistic about pricing. Buyers see the lowest listed prices in your category, and they’re paying 15% on top of whatever you set.
And if you’re buying multiple tickets for friends, remember that “same transaction” does not equal “together”. The marketplace is built for valid transfer and payment, not for careful seat planning.
At the moment we have 117 available for the 2026 World Cup, with prices starting as low as $446.
A match at the World Cup gaining a lot of attention right now is Poland vs Albania at $506 but there's always availability with Ticket-Compare.com!
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Why Are World Cup 2026 Tickets So Expensive?
World Cup Ticket Prices: 2022 vs 2026
What the Draw Means for World Cup 2026 Tickets
