England fans hoping to watch the Three Lions take on Mexico in the World Cup last-16 must pay a minimum of £2,622 for a single ticket on Fifa’s resale site – nearly 12 times face value – as home supporters drive demand to the highest of the tournament.
The match, set for 01:00 BST Monday at the Estadio Azteca and broadcast on BBC One, was booked after England beat DR Congo 2-1 on Wednesday. But getting into the 80,824-capacity stadium is proving a nightmare: the England Supporters’ Travel Club received only 4,000 tickets, all sold by January, and Fifa has issued no more. On the resale site, a category four ticket originally worth $170 (£129) now costs $5,175 (£3,933) – 30 times face value – while a category one seat in the lower bowl is listed at $31,712 (£24,101) plus a $4,757 (£3,615) Fifa fee.
“England fans face £2,600 minimum ticket prices and fears of hostility from Mexican fans before last-16 World Cup clash.”
Off the pitch, FA bosses fear a “night of hell” before the game. Before Mexico’s last match, hundreds of fans set off fireworks outside Ecuador’s team hotel – the luxury Westin in Santa Fe – forcing riot police to intervene. Ecuador made an official complaint to Fifa. Mexico City mayor Clara Brugada urged home fans to behave “responsibly, carefully and with empathy.”
Two England superfans, Jo Lewis and Gary Taylor – who have already visited Mexico City – issued a chilling safety warning of “terrifying and chaotic scenes.” Four Mexican fans have died from suffocation following celebrations after the last game, though authorities have assured England fans they will be safe. Fans like Graham Jones, 57, fly out with tickets guaranteed through the FA but unsure of their section. Others take extreme measures: Daniel Griffiths, 39, is flying 1,000 miles north to Canada before heading to Mexico to keep costs down.
The scramble for tickets echoes a wider crisis. Julia Reeker Moghal and Reuben Renteria, both California residents, have sued StubHub in a New York federal court, alleging the company sold tickets that “did not exist, were revoked without any forewarning, or had been erased.” They seek class-action status and a ban on StubHub selling World Cup tickets. StubHub blamed “the event organizer’s own ticketing infrastructure,” while Fifa said it “has no visibility over, or control of, secondary market transactions.”