World Cup quarterfinal ticket prices drop by 46% after Round-of-16 exits
The exit of all three World Cup hosts in the Round of 16 broke the hearts of Americans, Canadians and Mexicans. Fans of Brazil, Colombia and Portugal also were crushed that their teams, expected to make deep runs, crashed out so early.
But the departure of those teams was good news for fans purchasing tickets this week for the quarterfinals.
The cheapest “get-in” prices for the four quarterfinal matchups dropped by an average of 46% on resale markets from what they were at the start of the Round of 16, according to TickPick.
Tickets for Thursday’s France vs. Morocco quarterfinal dropped 32.9% from $1,485 before the Round of 16 to $997 on secondary online marketplaces.
Team USA’s 4-1 loss to Belgium sent tickets for Friday’s quarterfinal (now Spain vs. Belgium instead of Spain vs. USA) spiraling downward. The elimination of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal team by Spain also likely affected prices for that quarterfinal because his global fan base is known to increase ticket prices. Cheapest get-in prices for that quarterfinal dropped 65.2% from $3,261 before the Round of 16 to $1,134.
Even Argentina’s quarterfinal ticket prices dropped, despite the chance to see Golden Boot leader Lionel Messi, once it became clear that it would be playing Switzerland instead of Colombia. An Argentina vs. Colombia match would have been a hot ticket, and the “get-in” prices were $2,381 before the Round of 16. But as of Thursday, they had dropped 40.5% and were available for $1,417.
The most expensive quarterfinal tickets were for Norway vs. England at Hard Rock Stadium, though those also dropped 45.9% from before the Round of 16, from $3,866 for the lowest “get-in” price to $2,093.
“You can see fans reacting in real time to bracket changes,” said a StubHub spokesperson. “The single biggest wave of late-round ticket listings we’ve seen this tournament came in the 72 hours after the Round of 16 knockouts — as soon as Brazil, Portugal, and other favorites went home, more and more opportunities to attend the semifinals and the final started becoming available.”
Despite the most expensive ticket prices in World Cup history, the total attendance for the 2026 tournament had surpassed 6.25 million fans entering the quarterfinals. According to data from FIFA, exactly 6,259,584 spectators attended the first 96 matches across the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
The average attendance was 65,204, and the highest average venue attendance was Estadio Azteca in Mexico City with an average of 80,824 fans
This figure shatters the previous all-time tournament record of 3.58 million set during the 1994 World Cup. The massive surge in total attendance was driven by the expanded tournament format, which features 48 teams playing a total of 104 matches.
This story was originally published July 9, 2026 at 4:27 PM.