World Cup 2026: Embarrassment for hosts as thousands of seats left empty at South Korea v Czechia match | OneFootball

Fifa has come under fire for the exorbitant cost of World Cup tickets, with a reported 180,000 tickets still listed

Football fans have been left seething as huge numbers of empty seats were seen during one of the opening games of the World Cup.

Large swathes of the stadium in Guadalajara were vacant during South Korea’s clash with Czech Republic in the early hours on Friday morning, amid controversy surrounding Fifa’s ticket prices.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino defended the dynamic pricing policy at a press conference on the eve of the tournament.

The governing body has come under fire due to their pricing strategy, and are facing legal action from New York, New Jersey and California following allegations that fans were left confused over inflated ticket prices.

Empty seats during South Korea vs Czech Republic

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The cheapest standard ticket to the final was $5,785, with some tickets reaching five figures.

A reported 180,000 tickets were still listed across official resale portals ahead of the competition, despite Fifa claiming to have received over 500 million booking requests.

Fifa have now cut prices for many upcoming matches, with prices for seats at England’s games against Ghana and Panama plummeting by almost half in a late bid to find buyers.

The Sun have reported that some World Cup venues have currently sold less than half of their tickets.

During the match at the Estadio Akron, angry fans turned to social media to complain about the empty seats.

Fifa have claimed there were 44,985 fans in the stadium, just 679 short of capacity.

South Korea celebrate their win over Czech Republic

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Despite the unfilled stands, both sets of fans made themselves heard, creating lively atmosphere during South Korea’s 2-1 comeback win.

Earlier in the day, hosts Mexico earned a comfortable 2-0 win over nine-man South Africa in Mexico City.