[Official Resale] Which Country Has the Hardest-to-Get Tickets? World Cup Popularity Ranking by Price

2026 FIFA World Cup Official Tickets Ticket
2025.12.28

In previous articles, I've been frantically shouting about securing Japan match tickets, so this time let's take a coffee break.

Looking at data from all 72 matches on the FIFA official resale, you can see a real-life popularity vote showing which countries fans around the world are most excited about.

"How popular is Japan's national team from a global perspective?" "Which country has the most expensive tickets?"

We'll answer these simple questions using market prices - the most honest numbers. (*Please enjoy this as a data analysis read!)

1. Announcing the World's Top 3 Most Popular!

These are the "3 super-popular countries" with incredible markup ratios over face value in the resale market.

1st Place: Mexico (In a League of Their Own) The undisputed #1. As a host nation, their matches command completely different price levels. For the opening game and capital city matches, even the cheapest seats can reachnearly 10x face valueIt's not uncommon. You can really feel the spirit of Mexican fans who say, "I'd go into debt to watch the World Cup in my own country."

🥈 2nd Place: Argentina (The "Last Dance" Demand) "Could this be Messi's final tournament?" That thought alone has fans worldwide chasing tickets. No matter who they face, Argentina games are now platinum-level.

🥉 3rd Place: USA (Host Nation Pride) As expected, host nation USA is popular too. But unlike their southern neighbor, it's the priciest seats (Cat. 1) that see the most demand here. Wealthy fans want to enjoy the game in style.

2. The Cheapest Seats Are the Hottest Commodity!?

One fascinating finding from the data:The incredible popularity of the cheapest seats (Category 3).

Normally for concerts and events, the front-row arena seats (most expensive) sell out first, right? But in the World Cup resale market,the cheapest seats have the highest markup.

  • Category 1 (expensive seats): Since face value is already high, resale prices don't climb much further (they won't sell if too pricey).
  • Category 2 (mid-range seats): Being in the middle, these have the highest chance of being left unsold.
  • Category 3 (cheap seats): Fans worldwide who just want to get inside the stadium rush for these, so they sell out quickly even at 2-3x face value.

If you're thinking "I'd love to see a world powerhouse play, just for the experience,"going for the cheapest seatsseems to be the current World Cup trend.

3. Where Does Japan Rank Globally?

So where do our beloved Samurai Blue stand in terms of popularity across all 72 matches?

The answer is... **"Upper-middle (at the doorstep of the top tier)"** — a position we can be quite proud of!

If you rank all 72 matches by popularity (markup ratio), the picture looks roughly like this:

  • Top Tier (Top 10%): Mexico, Argentina, USA
  • ★ Near-Top Tier (Top 20-30%): Brazil, England,Japan (vs Netherlands)
  • Mid-Tier (Top 50%): Mid-level European teams, mid-level South American teams,Japan (vs Tunisia, etc.)
  • Lower Tier (below face value): Low-profile matchups

**"Japan vs Netherlands"is seen globally as a"marquee match (must-watch game)"** with prices at over 2x face value. That's impressive! Meanwhile, matches like the Tunisia game have more moderate pricing (mid-tier).

In other words, Japan is a team with the **potential to become a globally-watched blockbuster, depending on the opponent.**

Summary

The numbers make it clear: the World Cup is where each nation's passion collides on a grand stage.

Having tickets to a top nation's game is a brag in itself. If you scored a popular match ticket (especially Cat. 3!), cherish that luck!

[Bonus] FIFA World Cup 2026 Group Stage - All 72 Matches Price Tracker

  • FV: Face Value
  • 12/05: Lowest Price as of Dec. 5
  • 12/20: Lowest Price as of Dec. 20
  • 12/27: Lowest Price as of Dec. 27
  • Unit: USD
  • "-" means out of stock
No Match C1 Face Value C1(12/5) C1(12/20) C1 (12/27) C2 Face Value C2(12/5) C2(12/20) C2(12/27) C3 Face Value C3(12/5) C3(12/20) C3 (12/27)
1 Mexico vs South Africa 2,355 - - 9,200 1,705 23,000 7,475 7,475 1,020 23,000 - 4,600
2 South Korea vs Euro PO D 500 1,092 1,323 1,281 400 608 500 460 180 575 449 425
3 Canada vs Euro PO A 2,170 4,981 5,009 3,831 1,575 4,034 3,340 1,672 930 1,840 1,840 1,672
4 USA vs Paraguay 2,735 4,255 3,335 3,199 1,940 2,619 2,030 2,239 1,120 1,529 1,436 1,537
5 Haiti vs Scotland 500 1,035 1,035 1,035 400 1,120 805 791 180 1,120 805 827
6 Australia vs Euro PO C 450 709 793 730 380 581 518 517 140 575 486 459
7 Brazil vs Morocco 700 2,093 1,725 1,753 500 1,437 1,150 1,315 265 977 1,150 1,148
8 Qatar vs Switzerland 450 943 748 573 380 534 543 372 140 287 359 372
9 Ivory Coast vs Ecuador 500 891 805 833 400 747 794 770 180 642 575 644
10 Germany vs Curacao 500 871 830 690 400 805 748 730 180 690 518 457
11 Netherlands vs Japan 600 1,322 1,149 1,265 430 830 805 776 220 690 748 575
12 Euro PO B vs Tunisia 450 462 449 483 380 488 449 379 140 321 301 316
13 Saudi Arabia vs Uruguay 600 603 488 460 430 483 425 414 220 494 351 379
14 Spain vs Cape Verde 500 1,069 1,150 1,150 400 402 700 575 180 347 431 414
15 Iran vs New Zealand 450 862 834 862 380 534 535 534 140 368 460 435
16 Belgium vs Egypt 500 996 1,035 977 400 575 575 575 180 517 495 415
17 France vs Senegal 620 1,022 1,035 917 465 1,012 851 660 220 805 684 660
18 FIFA PO 2 vs Norway 500 805 668 603 400 356 465 425 180 805 427 453
19 Argentina vs Algeria 700 1,897 1,645 1,569 500 1,150 1,096 1,023 265 948 914 865
20 Austria vs Jordan 450 517 610 611 380 534 460 391 140 264 270 272
21 Ghana vs Panama 450 1,443 827 833 380 511 542 725 140 258 342 345
22 England vs Croatia 700 1,725 1,380 1,667 500 891 1,019 1,006 265 862 955 764
23 Portugal vs FIFA PO 1 700 1,660 1,127 1,138 500 622 1,058 998 265 977 874 879
24 Uzbekistan vs Colombia 600 2,070 1,438 1,725 430 1,897 1,252 1,321 220 2,875 1,321 1,117
25 Euro PO D vs South Africa 450 632 604 596 380 356 403 402 140 297 330 316
26 Switzerland vs Euro PO A 500 987 1,081 1,144 400 747 748 741 180 575 522 471
27 Canada vs Qatar 700 1,456 1,085 1,085 500 747 893 721 265 601 615 655
28 Mexico vs South Korea 700 2,440 4,019 4,023 500 3,450 2,099 2,185 265 2,219 1,493 1,700
29 Brazil vs Haiti 700 1,725 1,380 1,371 500 1,150 1,114 947 265 966 748 772
30 Scotland vs Morocco 600 575 1,121 1,144 430 1,245 1,034 918 220 1,374 949 801
31 Euro PO C vs Paraguay 450 801 713 678 380 477 506 562 140 293 344 270
32 USA vs Australia 700 2,875 2,645 2,398 500 1,645 1,264 1,495 265 977 1,248 1,248
33 Germany vs Ivory Coast 600 2,070 2,760 2,760 430 1,660 1,044 1,335 220 920 - 730
34 Ecuador vs Curacao 500 598 472 529 400 419 414 460 180 286 311 325
35 Netherlands vs Euro PO B 600 907 897 793 430 1,006 897 868 220 862 552 597
36 Tunisia vs Japan 450 805 748 684 380 529 437 471 140 345 299 316
37 Uruguay vs Cape Verde 500 563 516 491 400 402 408 401 180 460 334 304
38 Spain vs Saudi Arabia 600 1,178 1,109 1,084 430 977 587 803 220 575 459 506
39 Belgium vs Iran 500 1,150 978 1,035 400 534 713 624 180 483 460 414
40 New Zealand vs Egypt 450 622 605 500 380 473 449 400 140 332 259 350
41 Norway vs Senegal 620 713 822 822 465 690 613 529 220 497 427 457
42 France vs FIFA PO 2 600 690 863 1,023 430 862 721 709 220 517 460 483
43 Argentina vs Austria 700 2,564 2,185 1,955 500 917 1,438 1,495 265 1,299 1,402 1,219
44 Jordan vs Algeria 450 529 529 575 380 396 396 343 140 247 247 245
45 England vs Ghana 600 1,725 1,436 1,035 430 1,046 1,002 976 220 1,495 805 805
46 Panama vs Croatia 500 2,242 2,243 1,840 400 1,162 1,169 1,168 180 575 575 654
47 Portugal vs Uzbekistan 700 920 1,119 1,138 500 1,265 976 860 265 480 749 805
48 Colombia vs FIFA PO 1 500 - 1,840 2,809 400 1,725 1,434 1,150 180 - - 1,236
49 Scotland vs Brazil 700 1,811 1,351 1,322 500 1,725 1,150 1,495 265 1,245 1,259 920
50 Morocco vs Haiti 500 460 828 711 400 431 357 437 180 316 276 286
51 Switzerland vs Canada 700 1,380 1,211 1,380 500 995 960 920 265 830 789 787
52 Euro PO A vs Qatar 500 554 633 632 400 402 357 419 180 316 400 339
53 Euro PO D vs Mexico 700 5,175 5,175 5,060 500 2,990 2,526 2,830 265 2,198 2,199 2,645
54 South Africa vs Korea Republic 450 764 742 663 380 406 374 517 140 307 288 172
55 Curacao vs Ivory Coast 450 460 403 350 380 379 292 292 140 198 219 200
56 Ecuador vs Germany 700 1,725 1,553 1,380 500 1,150 1,149 1,104 265 1,092 918 946
57 Japan vs Euro PO B 500 920 805 851 400 598 518 534 180 407 447 419
58 Tunisia vs Netherlands 500 987 554 686 400 581 417 516 180 379 282 293
59 Euro PO C vs USA 910 2,530 2,185 1,898 750 1,271 1,265 1,035 340 977 858 862
60 Paraguay vs Australia 450 701 713 701 380 534 581 509 140 402 378 247
61 Norway vs France 700 1,811 1,783 1,610 500 1,725 1,002 1,150 265 2,001 937 999
62 Senegal vs FIFA PO 2 450 2,070 1,252 833 380 829 518 542 140 415 305 229
63 Egypt vs Iran 500 554 689 575 400 356 359 356 180 161 259 270
64 New Zealand vs Belgium 500 747 633 617 400 456 434 358 180 415 459 417
65 Cape Verde vs Saudi Arabia 450 261 339 316 380 356 190 172 140 331 173 167
66 Uruguay vs Spain 700 11,500 3,450 2,977 500 2,300 1,702 1,495 265 1,245 1,495 1,213
67 Panama vs England 620 1,184 1,150 1,147 465 1,125 1,035 874 220 869 814 695
68 Croatia vs Ghana 500 856 805 803 400 805 656 609 180 460 516 442
69 Algeria vs Austria 450 586 554 529 380 402 374 345 140 249 259 241
70 Jordan vs Argentina 700 1,322 1,783 1,585 500 1,380 1,093 1,206 265 5,750 1,091 1,069
71 Colombia vs Portugal 700 3,005 2,818 2,837 500 3,162 2,300 2,712 265 3,162 2,041 2,041
72 FIFA PO 1 vs Uzbekistan 450 468 408 431 380 356 288 287 140 207 184 178

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