The staggering cost of tickets for the 2026 FIFA World Cup has caused widespread upset among soccer fans—but now, some relief is in sight after short-term rental company Airbnb vowed to give away more than 1,300 free tickets to customers who lease one of its properties during the tournament.
Airbnb announced on June 9 that “select” properties across “all 16 host cities,” including New York City, Miami, and Los Angeles, will now come with a free ticket to a local match for every person included in the booking.
Listings that are part of this sporting giveaway will be clearly marked with a soccer ball on the Airbnb website, the company revealed.
“Airbnb hosts don’t just offer you a place to stay—they provide a more authentic way to experience a destination,” Dave Stephenson, chief business officer of Airbnb, said of the initiative.
“And this World Cup, they’re doing something extraordinary: helping fans follow their teams wherever the tournament takes them, with select homes including free tickets in every host city.”
Throughout June and July, guests can head to Airbnb.com or use the Airbnb app to search for available stays on the select dates that the match is occurring in each host city. According to a statement issued by the company, those available rentals currently average $385 per night.
The tickets that will be on offer include games throughout every stage of the tournament, from the group stages—which take place across all 16 host cities—to the final, which will be hosted at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Bookings made for properties in New York will also be eligible.
Anyone hoping to secure tickets for the group stages or the knockout round of 32 can begin booking Airbnb listings now, while tickets for later stages of the tournament will be made available at later dates. For the World Cup round of 16, bookings with free tickets will be made available from June 18, while the quarter finals bookings will start on July 1.
For the semifinals, guests can begin their rental search on July 9, while bundles for the final will open to the public from July 16.
Once a reservation is finalized, the home’s host will share details on how to redeem the tickets for each guest.
The first 2026 World Cup match takes place at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on June 11, while the final will be held on July 19.
Airbnb’s promotion will no doubt come as welcome relief to some World Cup fans—particularly after it was revealed that many people hoping to attend a game would be forced to pay the equivalent of a monthly mortgage payment or more for the thrill of experiencing the action in person.
In at least five of the 11 host cities in the U.S., the least expensive tickets for matches are more expensive than the typical monthly mortgage for that market, according to an analysis from real estate research company PropertyShark.
The most expensive tickets currently being sold are—unsurprisingly—for the final, where the cheapest seats are currently going for $7,256.
In New York, the average monthly mortgage payment is $4,096 and the average monthly rent is $4,872. This means that, on average, it’ll cost New York homeowners 1.77 months of mortgage payments and New York renters 1.49 months of rent to attend the game, even in the cheapest seats. And that’s just for one ticket.
Meanwhile, the least expensive tickets for the Dallas semifinal match on July 14 are $2,391, while the city’s average mortgage payment is $2,351 and the average rent is $1,578.
Atlanta is hosting another semifinal match on July 15, where the cheapest tickets are going for $2,208. The average mortgage payment in Atlanta is $2,149, and the average rent payment is $1,814.
In Kansas City, which is hosting one of the semifinal matches on July 11, the cheapest seats are going for $1,567, while the average monthly mortgage is $1,477 and the average rent is $1,342.
And in Miami, where Colombia is set to take on Portugal in a much-anticipated match on June 27, the least expensive seats are going for $2,700. That’s about equivalent to the city’s average monthly mortgage payment of $2,731 and its average rent of $2,696.
