World Cup Tickets Fifa scramble shifts buying timetable — who gains and who’s still locked out

The surprise emails and last-minute sales notices are changing how and when fans can actually buy World Cup Tickets Fifa — and not in a straightforward way. What changes is timing and access: some fans who lost the Random Selection Draw have been given short, exclusive windows to buy single-match tickets on days’ notice, while many others face steep resale costs and uncertainty about which cities and matches are included.

What this change means for buyers and timing of access — World Cup Tickets Fifa

Short-notice, targeted offers shift purchasing power toward a subset of applicants and tighten the calendar for everyone else. Here’s the part that matters: people who entered the Random Selection Draw but were unsuccessful received emails signaling an “exclusive additional chance” to buy tickets, but the initial round of messages failed to include the essential time details. That gap created a window for confusion and uneven access that interacts with already-escalating resale prices.

Sequence of the email confusion and selective windows

Fans received an unexpected email on a Tuesday morning inviting them to an exclusive purchase opportunity but the email omitted the start time of the promised 48-hour access window — the field that should have shown “Your exclusive 48-hour access window(s) will start at: ” was left blank. The email included a link to a login prompt, but that destination showed that the Web Shop Portal closes on 22 February 2026 and will reopen on 2 April 2026. For hours after the initial messages landed around 9 a. m. ET, there was no public explanation. Later that day, around 2 p. m. ET, a subset of fans received follow-up emails that did include a specific time slot: the sale was slated for the next day, Wednesday, Feb. 25, with some slots beginning at 11 a. m. ET.

Who got access, which cities were named, and what remains unclear

The extra-sale emails targeted people who had entered but not won the Random Selection Draw. The organization said those chosen were a defined group of applicants selected to maximize fairness and acknowledge prior interest, but it did not provide specific selection criteria. Amended messages told recipients they’d been granted exclusive access to single-match tickets in host cities they’d applied for; some emails named cities such as Dallas, Philadelphia, Kansas City and Guadalajara. Fans also reported receiving time slots for matches in Boston, Toronto, Los Angeles and San Francisco, while applicants for Miami and New York New Jersey said they had not received afternoon follow-up emails with time slots. Argentina fans saw potential openings for their team’s matches in Dallas and Kansas City, offering new hope that tickets for those fixtures might not be completely sold out. But FIFA did not say which — unclear in the provided context.

Price pressure and how affordability fits into the sudden window

Ticket affordability remains a parallel crisis. Outside of a small allocation of entry-level $60 seats, costs on the resale market have climbed sharply. For fans in San Antonio aiming to see a round of 16 match in Houston, the cheapest seats listed were above $700 each on resale platforms. At that rate, the cost for an average family of four would be significant: Lindsey Owens, executive director of Groundwork Collaborative, framed the burden by comparing four tickets at that price to nearly six months of health insurance premiums on the marketplace for a typical family. Owens argued that control over primary and resale markets has let prices behave like auctions to the highest bidder and noted that the affordable $60 option represented only 1. 6% of total tickets. Parking costs in Houston on match days were also highlighted, with some spots listed up to $270. The random selection draw wrapped up last month; another late sale is expected in April, offering one more broad opportunity to secure tickets.

Micro timeline and next signals

• Web Shop Portal closed message referenced 22 February 2026; portal slated to reopen 2 April 2026.
• Initial incomplete emails landed around 9 a. m. ET on a Tuesday; follow-ups with time slots began arriving around 2 p. m. ET the same day.
• Some recipients received slots for Wednesday, Feb. 25, with earliest sales starting at 11 a. m. ET.
• Random Selection Draw concluded prior to these messages; a broader last-minute sale is expected in April.
• Next confirmation of broader availability or clearer selection criteria would signal whether access is being widened or remains narrow and ad hoc.

It’s easy to overlook, but the compressed timeline and selective messaging create distribution effects that matter as much as the raw number of tickets available.

• Limited-time offers are being targeted at applicants who lost the Random Selection Draw, creating an uneven second chance.
• Specified host cities named in amended emails include Dallas, Philadelphia, Kansas City and Guadalajara; reports also list Boston, Toronto, Los Angeles and San Francisco, while Miami and New York New Jersey applicants reported no follow-up slots.
• Demand metrics referenced include more than 500 million ticket requests in the Random Selection Draw and the draw being the third and final lottery; leadership had previously said every match was sold out while noting some tickets were held back for last-minute sales.
• High resale prices — cheapest resale seats for some Houston matches above $700 and parking listed up to $270 — mean that even with extra windows some fans will be priced out.
• Another last-minute sale expected in April remains a scheduled broader opportunity for buyers.

The real question now is whether the selective short-notice windows will expand into clearer, fairer availability or remain a fragmented, last-minute channel that benefits only a subset of fans.

Authors and publication details in the provided coverage noted a February 23, 2026 publication timestamp and named contributors with bios: Stephanie Serna is identified as a weekday anchor on Good Morning San Antonio and GMSA at 9 a. m. who joined the team in November 2009 as a general assignments reporter; Justin Rodriguez is listed as an editor. Copyright noted for 2026; all rights reserved.