Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani announced in Little Senegal today that the City of New York and the NYNJ Host Committee have secured 1,000 affordable tickets to the FIFA World Cup 2026 for New Yorkers.
The seats will cost $50 each and include free round‑trip bus transportation to MetLife Stadium; they cover five group‑stage matches and two knockout‑round matches, with approximately 150 tickets allocated per game.
The weight of the program is in the math: 1,000 tickets, roughly 150 per match, sold at $50 a seat, and bundled with a guaranteed shuttle to the stadium. New Yorkers aged 15 and over may enter a lottery at beginning Monday, May 25 at 10 a.m. and running through Saturday, May 30 at midnight. Entrants may enter once per day; the daily cap is 50,000 entries. Winners will be notified on Wednesday, June 3 and may purchase up to two tickets each. Tickets will be nontransferable and distributed directly to winners at the official boarding location on the day of each match, where free round‑trip transportation from the pickup location to the NYNJ Stadium will be included.
“A World Cup is coming to our backyard, and we want to ensure working‑class New Yorkers have the opportunity to be part of it,” Mamdani said at the announcement. He added: “We sat down with the Host Committee to make certain this tournament belongs to the people who make this city what it is. Today, 1,000 New Yorkers are going to get into those stands for fifty dollars and a free bus ride. I’m proud that New York City is leading the way.”
Officials framed the program as a narrow, targeted push for access. Maya Handa said the program was driven by the mayor’s focus: “This program exists because the Mayor was determined to make sure working New Yorkers would be in the stands when the World Cup comes home to New York,” and she added, “A kid in the Bronx, a security guard in Queens, a restaurant worker in Brooklyn or Staten Island — they are going to walk into the stadium this summer because their city fought for them to be there.” Alex Lasry emphasized the partnership side: “Mayor Mamdani has been unwavering in his commitment to making sure New Yorkers could be part of this historic moment in a real and meaningful way,” he said, and added, “From the beginning, we pushed for a program that prioritized affordability and access for New Yorkers and worked closely together to help make that possible.”
The program was announced in partnership with the NYNJ Host Committee and is explicitly designed to make World Cup tickets accessible to city residents. Organizers stressed anti‑scalping measures: tickets will be nontransferable to prevent scalping, and will be handed out in person at the boarding location on match day so winners must claim them directly before boarding for the included free round‑trip transportation.
The tension in the plan is clear from the rules themselves. The city is offering 1,000 seats but is opening entries to anyone 15 and older at a system that allows up to 50,000 entries per day — a setup that guarantees strong competition for each limited allocation. Winners may buy up to two tickets, and tickets are nontransferable, which protects against resale but also fixes who can use a purchased seat. Distribution at the official boarding location ties ticket pickup to a specific time and place on match day, a detail that prioritizes anti‑scalping and logistics over flexibility for winners who might later need to transfer or resell seats.
Council Member Yusef Salaam framed the moment culturally: “Harlem has always been a global village, and now our neighbors will have a real seat at the world’s biggest stage,” he said, returning the policy to its civic promise. The practical takeaway for anyone who wants a chance is simple: enter the lottery at between Monday, May 25 at 10 a.m. and Saturday, May 30 at midnight, and check your status on Wednesday, June 3.
The program will deliver exactly what it promises for a slice of the city — 1,000 New Yorkers, $50 each, and a bus ride to the stadium. For those who win, the path is clear; for everyone else, the city has signaled that affordability and access were the priorities even if the supply is tightly constrained.
