England Fans' Mexico Match Tickets Reselling for Up to £26,000

Tickets initially purchased by English fans for Monday's World Cup last-16 clash against Mexico have been listed for resale on FIFA's official portal for thousands of pounds. The most expensive offerings are a set of four tickets, originally priced at $605 (£460) each, now advertised for a staggering $30,000 (£22,800) apiece.

At this price, the buyer also faces a 15% FIFA fee, pushing the final cost to $34,500 (£26,220) – 57 times the face value. The seller, too, owes a 15% FIFA fee of $4,500 (£3,420), but even after this deduction, would still pocket a profit of $25,500 (£19,380) per ticket.

The cheapest available ticket is listed at a total price of $3,448 (£2,620) against a face value of $295 (£224), marking an almost 12-fold increase from the original price.

The Football Association (FA) has confirmed that these tickets were acquired through the ballot for the England Supporters Travel Club (ESTC) following the draw in December.

As of Friday morning, 76 tickets were listed in the behind-the-goal supporter categories within the English section. It remains unclear whether these are being sold by the original ESTC purchasers or if they were acquired by a third party and subsequently listed at inflated prices.

Tickets from the ESTC allocation can only be purchased by individuals who identified themselves as England fans during their FIFA registration.

The prices, which are subject to change, are set by the seller and reflect only the asking amount, not necessarily what a buyer is willing to pay. The FA is unable to restrict the resale of these tickets as it is permitted by FIFA.

However, tickets from the cheapest category ($60 or £45) are not permitted to be listed for resale.

The ESTC, with an annual membership costing £65 for renewing adult members, received an allocation of 3,000 tickets for the match at the 80,824-capacity Estadio Azteca, a number that cannot be increased. A total of 4,373 members applied for tickets, indicating that demand significantly outstripped supply.

Resale tickets in sections outside those designated for English fans at the Azteca are generally being offered at comparable prices.