Ticket prices for Friday’s FIFA World Cup quarter-final in Los Angeles have dropped sharply following the elimination of hosts the United States and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal from the tournament.
According to a Forbes report, the cheapest resale tickets for the match plunged by nearly 60 per cent, falling from $2,950 to about $1,200 on the secondary ticket marketplace TickPick after Monday’s Round of 16 matches.
The sharp decline came after Belgium thrashed the United States 4-1 in Seattle, ending the hosts’ hopes of reaching the quarter-finals and dampening local demand for the Los Angeles fixture.
Portugal’s 1-0 defeat to Spain in Arlington, Texas, also contributed to the drop in demand. The result marked the end of Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup career, removing one of the tournament’s biggest global attractions from the highly anticipated quarter-final.
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According to Forbes, the absence of both the host nation and Ronaldo significantly affected resale prices.
“Spain defeated Portugal 1-0 on Monday, ending Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup career and removing a significant amount of star power appeal from the quarterfinal match in Los Angeles, which would have likely had far higher ticket prices if the U.S. and Portugal faced off instead.”
The report also cited data from ticket marketplace SeatPick, which showed that average resale prices for all World Cup quarter-final matches have fallen by 31.5 per cent over the past day and 50.4 per cent over the last three days.
SeatPick further revealed that ticket availability on secondary marketplaces has risen sharply, with 49,415 tickets listed for sale compared to 28,285 at the start of the tournament.
Among the last-eight fixtures, Thursday’s clash between France and Morocco in Foxborough, Massachusetts, currently offers the cheapest resale tickets, with prices starting from $989, according to TickPick.
Despite the decline in quarter-final ticket prices, demand for the tournament’s showpiece final remains strong.
Forbes reported that the cheapest resale ticket for the FIFA World Cup final in New Jersey on July 19 was priced at $9,346 as of Tuesday, although the figure is expected to fluctuate depending on which teams qualify.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup has been regarded as the most expensive edition in the tournament’s history, with ticket prices reaching levels significantly higher than those recorded at previous World Cups.