Industry News

Russia 2018 Fifa World Cup tickets go on sale Thursday

The first batch of tickets for the 2018 Fifa World Cup finals in Russia are set to go on sale tomorrow (Thursday).

Tickets are set to be sold in two phases, with prices ranging from £79 (€87.60/$105) for a second-round group match to £829 for the final in Moscow.

Football fans will be directed to Fifa’s website in order to submit their application for a seat during the tournament.

Category 4 prices, which are only available to Russian residents, start at £17 and go up to £92 for the final, which is only £13 more than the cheapest group match for non-Russians.

The £829 price tag for Category 1 final ticket is the most expensive for the 2018 World Cup final, and is a £151 increase on the equivalent ticket at the Brazil 2014 final in Rio de Janeiro.

The cheapest Round-of-16 tickets will cost £87, while a quarter-final and semi-final would set fans back £132 and £215, respectively. The least expensive final ticket, outside of the special price category for host nation supporters, would be £343.

“We have put in place a ticketing system that will enable all fans a fair chance to secure tickets,” said Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura.

Applications made during the first phase, prior to the October 12 cut-off date, will be entered into a random selection draw if there are not enough tickets available to fulfil all requests. Fans will be notified if they have been successful or not by November 12.

The first phase of sales then concludes in the period from November 16 to 28, during which tickets will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

Following this, phase two of sales will begin on December 5, and then a last-minute sales window will open from April 18 to July 15, the day of the World Cup final.

The World Cup in 2018, which kicks off on June 14, will be held across 11 different cities, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.

Seven countries have already secured their spots alongside the hosts, including five-time winners Brazil, Belgium, Iran, Mexico, Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea.

Image: Kremlin