Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani announced today that the City of New York, in partnership with the NYNJ Host Committee, has secured 1,000 affordable tickets to the FIFA World Cup 2026 for New Yorkers — each seat priced at $50 and including free round‑trip bus transportation to MetLife Stadium.
The tickets cover five group stage matches and two knockout round matches, with approximately 150 tickets allocated per game. The program is limited to New York City residents aged 15 and over who enter an online lottery at
Entry opens Monday, May 25th at 10 a.m. and closes Saturday, May 30th at midnight. New Yorkers may enter once per day, subject to a daily cap of 50,000 entries; winners will be notified Wednesday, June 3rd 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, and every winning ticket includes free round‑trip transportation from the pickup location to the stadium.
"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 as he announced the program in Little Senegal, surrounded by Harlem residents, African community leaders and elected officials wearing jerseys representing tournament nations. 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."
City officials stressed the program was the product of months of collaboration between the Mamdani administration and the Host Committee and was deliberately designed to center affordability and accessibility. NYC World Cup Czar Maya Handa said the initiative was driven by the mayor's insistence that working New Yorkers be present: "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." Handa added that a broad cross‑section of the city — "a kid in the Bronx, a security guard in Queens, a restaurant worker in Brooklyn or Staten Island" — should be able to walk into the stadium this summer because the city fought for them to be there.
Alex Lasry, chief executive officer of the FIFA World Cup 2026 NYNJ Host Committee, praised the mayor's push and said the Host Committee had prioritized local access. "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," Lasry said, adding that the parties worked closely to keep the program affordable and accessible so the people who define the city could experience the tournament firsthand.
The program’s mechanics create a blunt arithmetic problem: 1,000 tickets across seven matches and roughly 150 seats per game versus a lottery that allows one entry per day with a 50,000‑entry daily cap. Winners may buy up to two seats, and each ticket will be nontransferable and handed out at the boarding point on match day. Those rules cut down on resale and scalping but also limit flexibility for winners who may need to coordinate schedules or travel for family members.
Because the tickets include free bus transport and are distributed at the official boarding location, the city says logistics are built into the package. Winners must claim tickets in person on the day of the match at the boarding site; the city has not released detailed pickup schedules beyond the pledge of round‑trip transportation to MetLife Stadium.
If the program works as outlined, the immediate outcome is simple and concrete: 1,000 New Yorkers — prioritized through a city lottery, routed onto chartered buses and seated in the stands for group and knockout matches — will see the World Cup in person this summer. For a city that pushed for affordability and access, the test will be whether the tight allocation and strict distribution rules turn that promise into seats rather than frustration on the day of the games.
