USMNT World Cup opener ticket sales reportedly lag behind other matches

Same venue. Same event. Vastly different ticket sales numbers.

The United States Men's National Team, apparently, just is not the same draw as their counterparts set to play in the FIFA World Cup.

Sales figures for the USMNT’s 2026 opener against Paraguay on June 12 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles are well behind several other matches at the home of the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers. That is according to a document released to event organizers and other factors contributing to less-than-anticipated demand, The Athletic reports.

Dated April 10, the document listed 40,934 tickets sold for the United States’ opening match. Compare that with the 50,661 tickets purchased for the Iran vs. New Zealand game three days later at SoFi Stadium, which boasts a capacity of 69,650. While the early numbers do not include hospitality packages and other tickets that were not sold to the general public, they still might not be the best sign for interest in the USMNT on their own soil.

A FIFA spokesperson challenged the validity of the data expressed in the document.

“Ticket sales for the FIFA World Cup remain strong with a high degree of interest for all matches, including the ones you have highlighted.”

The spokesperson added that the document “does not accurately reflect actual sales to date” and said “it would be misleading and irresponsible to publish such figures as fact.”

But other, nearly inarguable, information suggests there still might be less demand for the USMNT opener than initially thought. The USMNT opener was slated as the third-most expensive ticket of the tournament during FIFA’s first on-sale in October. Category 1 ($2,730) and Category 2 ($1,940) tickets are still readily available through multiple sales cycles. Prices for other matches have gone up since tickets were released, an indicator that demand is high, while prices for tickets for the USMNT opener have remained the same.

Inventory tracking, another signal of demand, also suggests interest in seeing the USMNT’s game against Paraguay may be waning. Nearly two weeks ago, slightly more than 2,500 tickets to the match were available on FIFA’s ticketing portal. Just 10 days later, more than 2,200 of those had yet to be purchased, with thousands more available on the resale market.

Despite FIFA President Gianni Infantino boldly proclaiming that “around” five million of the 6.7 million tickets for the World Cup have already been bought, the pace at which USMNT opener tickets are moving might reflect other realities that could contribute to declining demand, including steep prices and the fact that the team has had issues attracting fans in previous tournaments.

With two months remaining before the World Cup kicks off Friday, June 11, FIFA will likely continue to release additional batches of tickets as it looks to fill the stadium for the USMNT’s first game.