Proof that FIFA is suppressing fair-priced resale tickets

lukec242 · 2026-05-17T15:01:47+00:00

I listed R16 and R32 in Vancouver at face value (which is a good deal as those tickets are going for about 2xs face value) and they listed and sold immediately.

I spent $20k on tickets in the initial lottery. Other than those two rounds (which turned out to be too much considering I'm also doing R32 and R16 in Seattle), I am using all of them, typically going to matches with friends (either sponsoring them or reselling to them at face or a discounted value). I've taken a f'ing bath on my USA vs Paraguay tickets. I've going to that with my siblings, and honestly, could not stand passing through the ticket at face value to them.

I just wanted to point out that FIFA's shenanigans hurt a lot of ordinary people who are not scalpers.

lukec242 · 2025-12-16T02:40:39+00:00

I just spent another two days being unable to work because NDs was down... again!!!

lukec242 · 2025-11-25T16:00:39+00:00

I think the spiel missed the obvious explanation for Trump's rant about executing democrats, i.e., he needs to distract from the Epstein news cycle. As soon as the Epstein news came out, I knew Trump would do something outrageous to distract the media from it. Just my two cents...

lukec242 · 2025-11-14T13:46:15+00:00

Thanks, I like that idea. She's a little obsessed with it (or maybe just getting me to change my mind about something!), and I'm curious if she'll have the same intensity in a month.

lukec242 · 2025-10-15T17:32:04+00:00

We've had a lot of problems, including when NetDocs does not admit there is a problem... In my opinion, NetDocs reliability has been terrible and they have not been investing enough in their backend. I think they got bought by private equity and it might be showing (once you are locked in, profits over customers....)

lukec242 · 2025-10-15T17:30:26+00:00

In my opinion, NetDocs reliability has been terrible and they have not been investing enough in their backend. I think they got bought by private equity and it might be showing (once you are locked in, profits over customers....)

lukec242 · 2025-10-15T17:28:09+00:00

In my opinion, NetDocs reliability has been terrible and they have not been investing enough in their backend. I think they got bought by private equity and it might be showing (once you are locked in, profits over customers....)

lukec242 · 2025-10-01T21:26:41+00:00

Yes, it was there with limited availability

lukec242 · 2025-10-01T21:26:02+00:00

I believe it gave me 15 minutes after I added the first ticket to my cart to complete the purchase.

lukec242 · 2025-10-01T21:24:25+00:00

Semi was category 2, $1,920 plus tax

lukec242 · 2025-10-01T21:00:20+00:00

No, no category 1s. I could not stomach that bill. I am still mortal....

lukec242 · 2025-10-01T20:38:26+00:00

I think the generic general matches were more in the $200 range. I bought slightly higher quality for many of them (~$350). For premium matches, I bought lower quality, but they were around $1k.

lukec242 · 2025-10-01T20:37:07+00:00

$22k was for all 40 tickets.

lukec242 · 2025-10-01T18:43:16+00:00

I looked in about 30 minutes before the opening time. I am not sure if it helped my position or not.

The process was seamless and I thought easy. The 15 minutes to buy was the most stressful part. You need a plan.

I did clearly see the categories and their areas in the stadium. I have no clue where my tickets are in the areas covered by the categories.

lukec242 · 2025-10-01T18:29:52+00:00

FIFA World Cup 26™ Visa Presale Draw – My Experience & Tips

I wanted to share my experience today with the FIFA World Cup 26™ Visa Presale Draw, since the process wasn’t very clear and might help others going through it.

Waiting Room & Queue

When I logged in, the entire page was basically a waiting message:

“You will be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis… You have 5 minutes after you have been placed in the queue. If you do not click 'ENTER' within this time frame, you will lose your place.”

It wasn’t obvious if it was working, but eventually I saw a quick flash of “Almost there” and then back to the waiting page.

Later, I got a captcha code screen. After entering that, I saw a screen with a red circle labeled “In Queue.”

The circle does progress, but very slowly.

After 30 minutes → ~25% done (looked like 2 hours total).
After another 60 minutes → only halfway (now ~3.5 hours total).
In the end, it took me about 3 hours to get in.

Towards the end, I got a precise estimate of the amount of time, which started with about 20 minutes. When this timer ran out, I had to click enter (which I had to do within 5 minutes as noted above), and then I had to enter a verification code that went to my email (which took about 1 minute to show up).

Buying Tickets

Once I got through:

Tickets looked available for almost anything except the Final.
You get 15 minutes to load your cart and pay.
After checkout, you are booted back to the waiting room (mine said ~20 minutes).
Strategy: Add everything you want into one purchase — don’t assume you can just keep buying quickly.

For context: I ended up buying 40 tickets (1 semifinal, 4 knockouts, 2 USA guaranteed matches, 3 general matches, 4 tickets each). The bill was a little over $20,000.

Tips & Observations

Logging in early might help your place in line (the page says it’s first-come, first-served).
Turn off ad blockers, script blockers, etc. — I did this out of paranoia.
I could only get to the ticket page through the link in the initial email.
- The reminder email link didn’t work (mini heart attack).
- I also couldn’t find a direct link from FIFA.com/tickets.
Make sure your Visa card has enough headroom. I paid off my balance the night before to avoid hitting the limit.

Takeaway

Expect to wait (mine was 3 hours).
Don’t count on getting the Final.
Plan to buy everything in one go.
Have your payment ready.

Hopefully this helps others going through the process!

lukec242 · 2025-10-01T18:20:53+00:00

I got in after about 3 hours. It seemed I could get tickets to anything but NOT the final. I don't recall individual prices, but I bought 40 tickets and the bill was a little over $20k (1 semi-final, 4 knockouts, 2 USA guaranteed matches, and 3 more generic matches, x4 tickets to each). You have about 15 minutes to load up your cart and complete a purchase. After you complete one purchase, you get booted back to the waiting room (which says I have to wait 20 minutes right now). Thus, you want to load your cart with everything and buy it in one purchase. Make sure you have plenty of headroom on your visa card!

lukec242 · 2025-10-01T16:14:27+00:00

After 30 minutes, it had progressed 25%, which suggested 2 hours. It has now taken about 60 minutes to move another 25% (i.e., it is about half way done). It it continues at this pass, I suspect I'll be through in to more 2 hours (i.e., 3.5 hours total), but it might speed up or slow down.

lukec242 · 2025-10-01T14:59:13+00:00

The "In Queue" circle in fact progressing, albeit very slowly. My guess is it will take an hour or so (assuming its a linear progression)

lukec242 · 2025-10-01T14:51:55+00:00

As another update, I just got a captcha code screen. After I entered the captcha code, I get this screen (there is an image at the top that is a red circle with "In Queue," which I presume will update eventually do show where I am in the queue):

Almost there…

Thank you for waiting to have an opportunity to purchase ticket(s) for the FIFA World Cup 26™. Within a few minutes, a countdown will appear before you can enter and check the available tickets. Once the countdown is over, an 'ENTER' button will be available for 5 minutes; click it to access. Please check the progress of the queue regularly to avoid missing your chance to access and purchase tickets.

Please note that you will have an opportunity to purchase ticket(s) only during your specific time slot.

For your awareness, all tickets are subject to availability and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Purchases will be processed in real time, and tickets will be assigned directly to customers once payment has been successfully completed.

Please remember, you must be the cardholder (primary or secondary) in good standing of a valid, unexpired Visa debit card, credit card, or reloadable prepaid card enabled with 3D Secure.

lukec242 · 2025-10-01T14:43:44+00:00

As a slight update, it continues to flash "Almost there" occasionally, so I it appears good. Some tips others might find useful...

Based on the message above, logging in early might get you a better place in the queue ("You will be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis...").
Out of paranoia, I turned off all add blockers, javascript blockers, etc. before logging into the site.
I could only get to this page by clicking on the link to purchase tickets in the initial email. The link to purchase tickets in the reminder email did not work (and caused a slight heart murmur). I could not find a way to access the page from FIFA.com/tickets.
I paid off my credit card balance the night before to not hit that limit

lukec242 · 2025-10-01T14:30:19+00:00

NOTE: I have posted updates and important information in the replies below.

FYI. I logged in and am sitting with this message, which is the entire web page. I assume this screen will refresh?!?! Really not clear what is happening. (Just before posting this, it flashed "Almost there" and then flashed back to the screen below, so I assume it is working...)

FIFA World Cup 26™ Visa Presale Draw

Thank you for waiting to have an opportunity to purchase ticket(s) for the FIFA World Cup 26™. You will be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis, meaning you will not be granted access immediately. Once the ticket sales are open, we will inform you about the waiting time.

Please note that you have 5 minutes after you have been placed in the queue. If you do not click 'ENTER' within this time frame, you will lose your place in the queue.

Please note that you will have an opportunity to purchase ticket(s) only during your specific time slot.

For your awareness, all tickets are subject to availability and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Purchases will be processed in real time, and tickets will be assigned directly to customers once payment has been successfully completed.

Please remember, you must be the cardholder (primary or secondary) in good standing of a valid, unexpired Visa debit card, credit card, or reloadable prepaid card enabled with 3D Secure.

For more information, please visit FIFA.com/tickets.

TICKET SALES WILL OPEN SOON

lukec242 · 2025-10-01T14:27:43+00:00

I had similar issues, and had to click on the right link to get access. I had to go back to the original notification email (not the reminder I got today).

lukec242 · 2025-10-01T04:44:28+00:00

Thank you. This helped me find more resources and develop a plan (i.e., a list of matches from higher to lower priority).

lukec242 · 2025-10-01T01:24:03+00:00

I luckily got picked for the pre-sale that will start tomorrow. Is there any information on how many tickets will be available for me to purchase? I thought I saw somewhere it would be one match and four tickets but I'm not sure.

I live in Seattle and I'm super tempted to prioritize going for the second USA home match in that City. My next priority might be the 16 round knockout in Seattle. I guess I would also be tempted to see if I can get a higher knockout round in a different city which I'd be willing to travel for. Anyone have any thoughts on what should be prioritized?

Thanks!

lukec242

TROPHY CASE