Explainer-How 2026 World Cup tickets are sold, priced and resold

March 3 : As anticipation for the 2026 World Cup builds with 100 days to go until the tournament co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, here is what you need to know about tickets to the showpiece event:

HOW MANY TICKETS HAVE BEEN SOLD SO FAR?

FIFA says nearly two million tickets were sold in the first two sales phases, with demand so intense that World Cup tickets were oversubscribed over 30 times.

To put that hunger for tickets in perspective, FIFA said the requests alone were 3.4 times more than the overall number of spectators who attended 964 games in the last 22 editions combined since 1930.

Residents of the three host countries understandably drove the most purchases, followed by fans in England, Germany, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, Argentina and France.

FIFA has not yet released figures for phase three, while the next phase of tickets will open after the March playoffs - where teams like former champions Italy, Denmark and Poland will vie for a spot at the finals.

HOW DOES THAT COMPARE WITH THE 2022 WORLD CUP?

One month prior to the 2022 World Cup, FIFA said 2.89 million tickets were sold for 64 matches in eight stadiums.

Overall, FIFA said 3,182,406 tournament tickets were sold for the 2022 World Cup, generating $686 million in revenue.

However, the 2026 edition has an expanded format with 48 teams, up from 32, and a total of 104 matches from the opener on June 11 to the final on July 19.

"The last four men's World Cups - Qatar, Russia, Brazil, South Africa - I think the USA is trumping that demand in a big way, pardon the pun," Michael Edgley, director at Australia's Green and Gold Army Travel, told Reuters.

HOW MUCH DO TICKETS COST FOR THE 2026 WORLD CUP?

Ticket prices are becoming as much a headline as the