World Cup final tickets on FIFA resale site priced at almost $2.3m each

Tickets for this summer's football World Cup final have gone on sale for more than $2m each. FIFA's official "resale/exchange marketplace" website for the match on 19 July shows four seats available for $2,299,998.85 (£1.7m). Buying all four of those tickets for the showdown, at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, would set you back $9.2m (£6.8m). A handful of other tickets in the same section, behind one of the goals, are also on sale for the comparatively bargain price of $16,098 (£11,953). FIFA does not control the asking prices on the resale website, but takes a 15% fee from both the seller and buyer of such tickets - meaning it could, in theory, earn almost $600,000 from just one of the ticket sales. FIFA's cut is included in the asking price.

Organisers have already faced criticism for the high prices of tickets for the tournament, which is being jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the USA, and kicks off on 11 June. Resale tickets for previous World Cups were capped at face value. In response to the criticisms, in December FIFA introduced a small number of $60 (£45) cheaper tickets. More than five million tickets have already been sold for this year's event, with the final phase of ticket sales opening earlier this week.

A FIFA spokesperson said: "FIFA has established a ticket sales and secondary market model that reflects standard ticket market practices for major sporting and entertainment events across the host countries. The applicable resale facilitation fees are aligned with industry standards across North American sports and entertainment sectors. FIFA's variable pricing ticketing approach aligns with industry trends across various sports and entertainment sectors, where price adaptations are made to optimise sales and attendance and ensure a fair market value for events."