Mamdani to announce $50 World Cup ticket lottery for NYC residents

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani will announce Thursday that a new batch of 2026 World Cup tickets will be available to residents of the five boroughs for $50 each. The tickets, distributed via random lottery, cover every match at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium except the final. The offer also includes round-trip bus transportation to and from the event.

The program is expected to make 1,000 tickets available, roughly 150 per game for seven matches. Seats will be in the upper bowl of the 82,000-seat MetLife Stadium.

Eligible games include five group-stage matches: Brazil vs. Morocco on June 13, France vs. Senegal on June 16, Norway vs. Senegal on June 22, Ecuador vs. Germany on June 25, and Panama vs. England on June 27, plus a Round of 32 game on June 30 and a Round of 16 game on July 5.

This marks the first time a 2026 World Cup host city has created a special ticket access program for its residents. It returns to the model used in Qatar for the 2022 tournament, where residents received discounted tickets.

Mamdani plans to officially unveil the program in the Little Senegal neighborhood of Harlem in upper Manhattan, accompanied by community leaders.

The lottery opens May 25 at 10 a.m. ET and closes May 30 at 5 p.m. ET, with a cap of 50,000 daily entries. Winners may purchase up to two tickets each. The initiative is a collaboration between the mayor’s office and the NY/NJ World Cup host committee led by CEO Alex Lasry, not with FIFA, which controls ticket operations and has faced criticism for dynamic pricing.

Ticket pricing has been a major issue ahead of the World Cup, especially for New York/New Jersey games due to admission costs and travel expenses. New Jersey Transit initially set round-trip train fares from New York’s Penn Station to MetLife Stadium at $150, compared to the usual $13, before reducing them to $105. Bus tickets are expected to cost $80 round trip.

FIFA previously responded to criticism by releasing a limited number of tickets at $60, representing about 1.6% of available inventory. The federation originally set $60 as the minimum price, but dynamic pricing has driven costs into the hundreds for every tournament match.

Mamdani, a self-described soccer fan who made affordability a key theme of his successful mayoral campaign, criticized FIFA in September for prioritizing revenue over accessibility for what should be an inclusive celebration of soccer.

“There’s just no chance for so many who love this game so much to actually be able to go and see this,” Mamdani said at a campaign stop in September. “This also has a real impact on the potential for the atmosphere of the World Cup and just how many fans will actually be there. Because so often the people who get the tickets quickest are not the ones who are actually the most eager to be there. They’re the ones who are the most excited at the prospect of a profit.”