As the 2026 FIFA World Cup approaches, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani wants to do his part to advocate for more affordable ticket pricing — a goal he realistically cannot achieve in the coming months.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Mamdani reiterated his frustration with World Cup ticket prices, specifically the tournament’s use of dynamic pricing. In other words, ticket prices will change in real time, a move FIFA confirmed last September. Initially, prices for the group stage were as low as $60, though that could theoretically increase or decrease as the tournament progresses.
MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., will host games throughout the tournament, beginning with the Brazil–Morocco clash on June 13 and culminating with the final on July 19.
“I had a New Yorker the other day come up to ask me if there was any way I could help him get World Cup tickets because he was saying the cost that he saw for a game was $600,” Mamdani said. “This is increasingly out of reach.
I am working with my team to ensure World Cup tickets are available to all working class New Yorkers. pic.twitter.com/PDnBwNs2rW
— Mayor Zohran Kwane Mamdani (@NYCMamdani) January 5, 2026
“We have made what used to be a working-class event into a luxury experience,” Mamdani continued, “and there are too many people who think it doesn’t matter where the World Cup is being played in the world — they know where they’re going to watch it. It’s TV.”
There are two significant problems with Mamdani’s comments, as an X community note pointed out.
“Apart from the fact that the mayor has no influence over FIFA pricing policy, there are no games in New York City,” the community note reads. “MetLife Stadium is in East Rutherford, New Jersey.”
In fairness to Mamdani, it’s easy to see why some people believe New York City is hosting World Cup matches. Giants and Jets home games are routinely marketed as part of the New York market because they are still the New York Giants and New York Jets. When MetLife Stadium hosted Super Bowl XLVIII in February 2014, the U.S. Census referred to the game as being played in the New York City metropolitan area.
With that said, the geographic error only goes so far. Mamdani has every right to argue that no one should need to pay $600 for World Cup tickets — at least at first glance. When the U.S. co-hosted the 1994 World Cup, the cheapest tickets for a first-round match went for $25. Accounting for inflation, those same tickets would have cost nearly $55 in 2025. Of course, that figure does not factor in parking, food, or how many tickets someone is buying, but the overall point remains.
This is last thing Mamdani should be wasting time on
1. Of course WC tickets are insane but the games are probably sold out already
2. The games are in Jersey smh
3. Now he’s just out here getting trolled by MAGA accounts and getting savagely community noted pic.twitter.com/9kDor9btRc
— Wu Tang is for the Children (@WUTangKids) January 6, 2026
And, as the community note rightly explained, Mamdani cannot influence FIFA to lower its prices or reverse its dynamic pricing policy. He’s free to disagree with it, but good luck convincing FIFA to back out solely because a local mayor — and not even the mayor of the city where games are being played — disapproves.
This past September, Mamdani called for 15% of tickets to be set aside at discounted prices for New York City-area residents. As of publication, FIFA had not announced whether it would do so.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup officially begins Thursday, June 11. Tyler Adams and the United States team open against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., on June 12.
