World Cup quarterfinal resale prices drop, FIFA selling nearly 1,200 more seats for final at US$7,380

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NEW YORK — World Cup ticket resale prices dropped for quarterfinal matches following the elimination of co-hosts United States and Mexico, and FIFA has nearly 1,200 seats on sale for the final at US$7,380.

The site TickPick listed the lowest price for the Spain-Belgium game on Friday at Inglewood, California, at $1,381, down from $3,261 before the U.S. lost to Belgium in the round of 16.

The lowest price for the England-Norway match at Miami Gardens, Florida, on Saturday was $2,049, down from $3,866 before England defeated Mexico to reach the quarterfinals. It listed the lowest price for the Argentina-Switzerland game at Kansas City, Missouri, at $1,142, down from $2,381 before the round of 16.

Standing outside SoFi Stadium on Friday, Jake van Baarsel said he bought tickets two days earlier. The 65-year-old from Riverside, California, said he hadn’t previously planned on attending because he knew ticket prices were so high. But when his son called to tell him he obtained seats at a lower price, he decided to pay for two at $1,000 each to share the moment with his 13-year-old grandson.

“It’s one of those things — it’s a memory maker for my grandson and me,” he said. “So how much money do you put on a memory?

“So yeah, it’s steep for a game, but we enjoy.”

Others who bought tickets well ahead of Friday’s quarterfinal match paid far more.

Lisandro Pineda, 70, of East Los Angeles, said he paid about $2,200 a month ago.

“The price was too high, I think, but it’s a resale, remember,” he said. “I didn’t want to be left out. I’ve never been to a World Cup. I didn’t go to the one we had before. So I figured, I have the money, I have the time, what the heck, buy the ticket, so here we are.”

Kourosh Modarress, 68, of Los Angeles, said his family bought hospitality tickets at $7,000 each after they failed to obtain other tickets in one of FIFA’s sales rounds.

“I think it’s highway robbery,” he said.

FIFA had nearly 1,200 category two tickets priced at $7,380 on sale Friday for the World Cup final on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The governing body’s last-minute tickets sales site, which at times had listed the game as sold out, had 1,178 seats available across five sections of the top deck along the sidelines: 282 in section 344, 299 in section 343, 139 in section 335, 443 in section 334 and 15 in section 333.

FIFA also was selling 68 front category one tickets in the lower deck at prices ranging from $19,995 to $32,970 and had remaining hospitality tickets in its Trophy Lounge and Trophy Lounge+ sections priced at $34,500 and $32,500, including food and drinks.

Soccer’s governing body did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why the additional tickets had become available.

Resale tickets for the final were available on FIFA’s marketplace at prices from $7,440.50 to $11,499,998.85.

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The Associated Press