With the 2026 World Cup bringing us the most expensive football fan experience of all time, there’s another governing body we can compare it to: UEFA.
The competition in the summer of 2026 was dogged by outrage over sky-high, demand-led pricing since tickets first went on sale — and European governing body UEFA are looking to price tickets far cheaper.
Therefore, Euro 2028 has a chance to endear itself to the fans whilst being a completely contrasting financial experience: here’s everything you need to know.
Dynamic Pricing: The Fault Line
This is a key area where the two governing bodies differ the most. FIFA, for the first time at a World Cup, introduced dynamic pricing, meaning ticket costs fluctuated in real time based on demand, supply and other market factors.
It’s the same model that affected Oasis fans in 2024, and it did FIFA few favours — the most expensive final tickets, initially listed at $6,730, had climbed to $10,990 by the April sales window. For reference, the 2022 final was going for roughly $1,600, which shows the unnecessary hike that FIFA have since allowed.
FIFA, for its part, insists it uses “variable pricing” rather than dynamic pricing, a distinction few fans found convincing. The New York and New Jersey attorneys general were unconvinced too, launching a joint probe into FIFA’s ticketing practices.
For Euro 2028, UEFA has committed to no dynamic pricing, alongside equal pricing for regular group stage matches — ensuring a clear, consistent structure it says worked well at Euro 2024. After all the controversy, it becomes a direct rebuke of FIFA’s model.
Distribution: Who Actually Gets In
Another key area where UEFA has focused on is access. Essentially, more than 40 per cent of the roughly three million tickets will sit in the most affordable categories, and over 80% will be available to fans of participating teams and the public — a welcome revelation for fans.
Crucially, tickets only go on sale after the December 2027 draw, so supporters know which teams they might see before committing.
There’s a face-value-only official resale platform with no seller fees, a ballot system to avoid queue chaos, and 10,000 tickets reserved for each qualified team’s supporters at every group game.
FIFA’s approach drew the opposite reaction; critics have argued its framework favoured wealthy and corporate buyers, with a late $60 “Supporter Entry Tier” widely dismissed as a token gesture amounting to a few hundred seats in 80,000-capacity stadiums.
Prices: The Euro 2024 Benchmark
It is important to state that nothing is guaranteed until Euro 2028’s numbers are published, and UEFA’s pledges remain in that state.
However, the philosophical divide between the two bodies is stark. FIFA have chased maximum yield and revenue and have faced a legal probe whilst UEFA has staked its pitch on affordability and transparency. This dichotomy has arguably been crystallised in UEFA’s strong opposition to FIFA’s plans to sell stakes in competitions to private investors.
Even allowing for a US market and inflation, the gap is enormous — and it’s exactly the comparison UEFA will want fans making. The difference in the finances will surely result in a higher interest from European fans, with the travel far easier across the continent.
