If you bill it, they will come: FIFA wins battle for fans' wallets in pricey World Cup

NEW YORK, July 18 : Sunday's final caps a World Cup where fans were willing to shell out more than ever for a seat at the quadrennial showpiece, as ticket buyers confounded even the greatest cynics in the face of sky-high prices.

In the match at New York New Jersey Stadium - widely billed as the single most expensive sporting event ever played in the United States - Lionel Messi's Argentina face Spain and their teenage superstar Lamine Yamal.

It is a fitting end to a tournament that has tested the limits of what fans will spend, with FIFA's gamble paying off after concerns over visa restrictions and domestic unrest in the United States.

"What FIFA did a very good job of was determining what demand would be because people (were) paying these absurd prices for just about all the 104 matches," said Scott Friedman, a ticketing expert who previously worked for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"A year ago, we didn't think people would be traveling with Trump's ICE stuff and all this other conspiracy stuff. But it's the most popular tournament in the world by far globally and FIFA, to their credit, they set the prices high and people ended up paying them."

A Reuters analysis of FIFA attendance data found that more than half the 72 group matches were attended to capacity, with most others only a few hundred fans short of a full house. Around 99.7 per cent of available seats were filled during the preliminary stage matches, FIFA said.

The data erased early concerns that FIFA's infamously steep prices would put off fans, after swathes of empty seats were seen around the Guadalajara Stadium for the June 11 match between South Korea and the Czech Republic.

FIFA reported an attendance of 44,985 at the nearly 46,000-seat stadium but empty seats seen