New York City announced it will offer 1,000 World Cup tickets at $50 each exclusively to city residents through a lottery system starting May 25, 2026 [1, 2, 3]. The tickets cover seven matches held at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, including five group-stage and two knockout-stage games [1, 3]. Approximately 150 tickets will be available per match for these games [1, 3].

The lottery is open to residents aged 15 and older, who may enter to win the chance to purchase up to two tickets each [1, 3]. To prevent scalping, winners must pick up non-transferable tickets at bus boarding locations on game day. The tickets include free round-trip bus transportation from New York City to the stadium [1, 3]. The lottery opens May 25 at 10 a.m. ET and closes May 30 at 5 p.m. ET, with a daily registration cap of 50,000 entries [3, 4, 5]. Winners will be notified around June 3, 2026 [4, 5].

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the program in Harlem’s Little Senegal neighborhood. He said, “We are making sure that working people will not be priced out of the game that they helped to create,” and described the $50 ticket price as “the equivalent of five coffees in New York City” [1, 6, 4]. Mamdani emphasized the initiative extends “to making it possible for every New Yorker to take part in the things that make us human” [6].

NYC Councilman Yusef Salaam praised the effort, saying, “This is the moment to make sure that everybody is included, that everybody is lifted up” [1]. The discounted tickets will be located in the upper bowl of MetLife Stadium, which has an 82,000-seat capacity [3].

Regular ticket prices for group-stage matches in the New York area average $864, with some resale tickets costing thousands. Final match tickets on July 19, 2026, can reach nearly $33,000 [1, 2, 7]. The program is a collaboration between Mayor Mamdani’s office and the NY/NJ 2026 World Cup Host Committee, not FIFA [3, 6]. FIFA President Gianni Infantino defended the high ticket prices earlier this month [1].

The seven matches covered include Brazil vs Morocco on June 13, France vs Senegal on June 16, Norway vs Senegal on June 22, Ecuador vs Germany on June 25, Panama vs England on June 27, the Round of 32 on June 30, and the Round of 16 on July 5 [3].

The lottery registration opens tomorrow, May 25, at 10 a.m. ET for New York City residents seeking discounted tickets. It will close on May 30 at 5 p.m. ET [3, 5].