World Cup ticket draw off to frustrating start, but plenty of time left in pre-sale

It was clear would-be ticket-buyers were going to need a big dose of luck to be successful in FIFA's 2026 World Cup lottery. Day 1 of the Visa pre-sale showed plenty of patience was needed as well.

"Has this convoluted World Cup FIFA Visa pre-sale thing actually worked for anyone yet?" tweeted a frustrated Bijan Todd.

"I want World Cup tickets so I'm currently in a waiting room to join a queue to enter a pre-sale draw to determine my eligibility to maybe buy tickets at an unspecified later date. What are we doing here @FIFAcom?" tweeted J.D. Capelouto.

A spokeswoman for the Canadian end of the soccer showcase acknowledged that while people were getting through to register in the draw, "we were experiencing initial extended wait times as the registration period opened."

She noted the pre-sale portal remains open until 11 a.m. ET on Sept. 19, so there is plenty of time to try again.

World Cup 2026 ticket presale fiercely competitive for fans

To take part in the pre-sale, you have to register with FIFA, be 18 or older and have a Visa card. When the portal opened Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET, registrants had to sign in and wait until a countdown clock popped up advising their time was near. When the clock wound down, they had five minutes to click on an "Enter" button for the next step — providing the personal details needed to be part of the draw.

After duly waiting, some found themselves getting an error message "HTTP Status 400 — Bad Request." Or back to where they started, facing another wait and the same hoops to jump through again.

Patience was rewarded eventually, but some likely gave up before getting there.

When the pre-sale window closes, a random draw will be held. Those lucky enough to be drawn will be notified by