So FIFA finally dropped the news about 2026 World Cup ticket sales kicking off soon. Figured I’d share exactly how I prepped for this madness because let’s be real – scoring these tickets is like winning the lottery.
Digging Up Official Details
First thing I did was hit up FIFA’s actual website. Couldn’t trust random blogs screaming “HURRY BUY NOW!” Had to find the real announcement myself. Scrolled through that boring press release section until I spotted it. Made damn sure I wrote down the launch date in three places: my phone calendar, a sticky note on my desk, and told my wife to remind me daily.
Account Setup Headaches
Tried logging into FIFA’s ticket portal with my old 2018 credentials. Got that “invalid password” error we all love. Reset password twice before realizing they’d wiped old accounts clean. Created a new profile and got stuck uploading ID verification for 20 minutes – kept saying file size too big. Finally cropped my driver’s license like crazy just to make it under their stupid limit.
Payment Prep Mayhem
Checked my credit card limits immediately after. No way was I risking declined payments during checkout. Then called my bank screaming “YES I ACTUALLY AM BUYING WORLD CUP TICKETS” so they wouldn’t flag it as fraud when the time came. Saved two different cards just in case.
Practice Run Disaster
Day before sales opened, I pretended it was game time. Followed their “recommended” steps: logged in early, opened multiple browsers, sat refreshing like a maniac. My desktop crashed halfway through – panic sweat instantly. Found out my ad blocker broke their queue system. Turned off every single extension after that test run.
Live Queue War
Actual ticket day felt like D-Day. Had alarms set 45 minutes early. Three devices fired up on different networks. Mouse hovering over refresh buttons when suddenly… queue paused page. That spinning timer nearly gave me a heart attack. Randomly got in after 17 brutal minutes. Group matches mostly gone already. Smashed “SELECT ANYTHING” button just to lock in knockout round seats.
Final checkout took three tries – site kept timing out. Finally saw that glorious confirmation screen. Now I’m praying FIFA doesn’t pull any funny business before 2026 rolls around. Lesson learned? World Cup tickets aren’t bought – they’re survived.