England fans face resale prices of at least £2,600 for Mexico tickets
England fans hoping to attend the World Cup last-16 match against Mexico must pay at least £2,600 for a single ticket on FIFA's resale platform.
England secured a last-16 clash with co-hosts Mexico after defeating DR Congo 2-1 on Wednesday. The match will be played at the Estadio Azteca, kicking off at 01:00 BST on Monday, and will be broadcast live on BBC One.
Fixtures in Mexico City have seen some of the highest resale prices of the tournament due to low supply and high demand from home fans. Before December's draw, the England Supporters' Travel Club received an allocation of 4,000 tickets for the 80,824-capacity stadium. All tickets were sold via a ballot in January, and FIFA will not issue any further tickets, leaving resale sites as the only option for fans to attend.
Only 250 tickets were listed on FIFA's resale site before England's match against DR Congo. That number rose to 273 shortly after the game, then jumped to 429 overnight. Many tickets are in the 'supporter value' categories behind the goals. The cheapest single ticket was a $295 (£224) supporter value ticket listed at $3,000 (£2,280). After FIFA's purchase fee, the total comes to £2,622 – nearly 12 times face value.
A total of 63 tickets in the three supporter categories have appeared. It is unclear if these seats come from the England Supporters' Travel Club allocation. The cheapest Category 4 ticket, with a face value of $170 (£129), is listed at $5,175 (£3,933) – 30 times face value. A Category 3 ticket in the upper tier, originally $350 (£266), is listed at $3,600 (£2,736), plus a FIFA fee of $450 (£342), bringing the total to $4,140 (£3,146).
Category 2 tickets, with a face value of $450 (£342), sell for $4,830 (£3,671). The cheapest Category 1 tickets, originally $1,595 (£1,212), now cost $5,905 (£4,488). More extreme listings exist: a Category 1 lower bowl ticket with a face value of $1,064 (£809) is listed at $31,712 (£24,101), plus a FIFA fee of $4,757 (£3,615).
On SeatGeek, an independent marketplace, the cheapest available ticket is $3,887 (£2,954) including fees, comparable to the Category 3 ticket on FIFA's resale site. However, hotel prices in Mexico City are very cheap compared to the United States, with numerous rooms available for under £80 for two nights around the match.
