FIFA have bizarrely claimed that the empty seats visible during South Korea's win over the Czech Republic were due to "several" fans standing in the concourses, rather than occupying their seats.
The second match of the 2026 World Cup ended in a 2-1 come-from-behind victory for South Korea in Guadalajara. FIFA announced the official attendance as 44,985, just shy of the official capacity of 45,664 at the Akron Stadium.
Yet those figures did not pass the eye test, with vast swathes of empty seats visible on the TV coverage and in photos taken inside the Mexican ground. The ticket prices for the World Cup have been widely criticised - and it appears to have had a knock-on effect.
Tickets in the lower tier to watch South Korea vs the Czech Republic cost $500 (£372), while ones further up the stands were $400 (£298) and VIP tickets a staggering $5,000 (£3,727).
Empty seats are something of an embarrassment for FIFA, who have been busy patting themselves on the back for their ticket sales. And a statement published on social media on Friday night is unlikely to help matters.
A FIFA statement read: "Official attendance figures reflect the number of tickets scanned and spectators present within the stadium footprint, rather than visual assessments of seating occupancy at any given moment during the match."
"FIFA works closely with stadium authorities and ticketing teams to ensure all published figures are based on verified operational data. Please note that, during last night’s match in Guadalajara, several ticketed fans could be seen standing in concourses rather than staying in their assigned seats throughout the match."
As recently as early June, FIFA discreetly reduced prices across all 104 matches and released 70 per cent of its bulk-reserved hotel rooms in what seemed to be an eleventh-hour attempt to fill seats. But it didn't work very well, with roughly 180,000 tickets still listed across their official resale platform and 15,000 group-stage tickets still obtainable directly through FIFA's website.
Gianni Infantino defended FIFA's ticket prices in a press conference before the tournament began. He said: "If you sell it at a lower price point, in this particular market it would have gone — which is perfectly legal in this country in secondary markets at much, much, much higher prices and where would the money go then?"
"Well, to those who organize secondary markets or black market activities and not to football." Infantino said the average ticket price was below $500 for the tournament and was comparable to other US sporting events.
Hundreds of tickets are still available for England's World Cup opener against Croatia in Dallas on Wednesday, largely due to the sky-high prices. The lowest price for a ticket is $867 (£648), with fans able to go all the way up to $9,225 (£6,900) for a ticket and meal package that has access to a VIP lounge.
