Frustrated by Dallas World Cup Ticket Prices? Try a Houston Match

As exciting as it is for many that Arlington will host more FIFA World Cup matches than any other 2026 host city, that enthusiasm comes with a price. A hefty one. 

A recent survey by online ticket broker SeatPick lists Texas as the seventh-most “soccer-obsessed state” thanks to a high number of Google searches for terms including “World Cup tickets.” Such a result shouldn’t come as a shock, though, as FIFA has announced historically high interest in tickets for this year’s tournament, the largest World Cup ever. And, of course, thanks to an expanded field, the cost of those tickets has been headline-grabbingly high. 

Prior to the various ticket-selling phases and lotteries, face value of World Cup tickets ranged from $75 to $700 for group stage matches. Tickets at those prices were limited, however, and certainly did not last long. 

But even the prices haven’t scared millions of people away. In fact, this week, The Athletic reported that people from across the globe have expressed shock and anger at how their big dollars have only netted them spots in what most would usually refer to as the cheap seat, nosebleed section of some World Cup stadiums. 

One North Texas man, who took to X to voice his dismay, showed a screenshot of his ticket receipt and wrote I applied for and was selected in one of the first ticket draws back in November and purchased Category 2 in my window, the supposed 2nd best group of seats. I do not remember @FIFAcom showing on that map that Category 2 tix were way up in the nosebleeds of the stadium.”

The screenshot the X user shared showed tickets in the 400 section of AT&T Stadium. If you’ve ever sat in that upper bowl for a game or concert, you know there’s nothing “Category 2” about that vantage point when the options go to Category 3 and Category 4. 

Adding to the demand in North Texas is that some of the world’s premiere teams will be playing matches here. None other than defending World Cup champions Argentina, who will likely feature the world’s best and most popular star in Lionel Messi, and England, modern soccer’s birthplace, will both have matches here as well as soccer-mad The Netherlands, Croatia and Japan. 

And because of all this, tickets through FIFA’s official channels are not only scarce at this point, but are even more exorbitantly expensive than they were not all that long ago. Last week, shortly after FIFA’s “last-minute sales” phase began, the only Arlington match tickets available were to one of the knockout round matches, meaning nothing for either Argentina match or the England vs. Croatia match was available.  

But what about a short ride down Interstate 45? Even with the gas prices what they are these days, you can save a good bit of cash by looking to take in a match in Houston instead of Arlington. And the daytime start times for most matches mean you can make an easy day trip of the event. 

Messi may not be playing in Houston for sure, but his longtime rival and arguably the second-best player of all-time, Portugal’s Christiano Ronaldo will play twice in Space City. Perennial power Germany will also play in Houston, so for a pretty good bit less fans can still catch soccer legends in action. 

These prices were as of the afternoon of April 9, and were all located in the upper bowls of AT&T Stadium and NRG Stadium. In some cases, these tickets were single seats and not located next to another available seat. But take a look at that June 26 match in Houston. Granted, from a soccer perspective, Cabo Verde vs. Saudi Arabia is not a clash of the titans, but for someone who just wants to get in on the World Cup action, this will be among the lowest-priced, if not the lowest-priced match during the entire tournament. 

Secondary ticket sites such as SeatGeek are not official FIFA partners and therefore, you run the risk of purchasing counterfeit tickets, but the most reputable sites have money-back guarantees at least, although that will not help you much if you were just hoping to get into the match with your ticket. 

With that said, on SeatGeek on Thursday afternoon, the trend of Houston matches running cheaper than the Dallas matches held true. Across the board, the lowest-priced tickets to the five matches from both cities available on SeatGeek were much cheaper than the lowest-priced seats on FIFA’s official site. But beyond that, seats for all of the Houston group stage matches could be found for less than $1,000, and much less in some cases, while the cheapest tickets on SeatGeek for most of the Arlington matches hovered near or well above $1,000, with only the June 25 Japan vs. Sweden match showing a ticket for as low as $566 on Thursday at least.