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Hello! If you purchased tickets for the 2026 World Cup, you might just find that the goalposts have moved. Along with your seat.

Coming up:

Ticket anger: World Cup fans say FIFA misled them over stadium seat locations

The price of World Cup tickets is such that anybody shelling out this summer would expect some assurance about what they were paying for. Nobody — and I can’t stress this enough — is obligated to buy seats for the 2026 finals, but if I’m stumping up for a Ferrari, I damn well want a Ferrari.

Various FIFA sales windows have come and gone (with three million tickets sold), and last week, the world governing body began allocating specific seats in specific sections of host stadiums to those who successfully applied. Lo and behold, it’s emerged that some customers aren’t getting the quality of seat they expected. The product, in principle, looks different from reality.

Those who bought Category 1 tickets — the most expensive tier at a tournament where the costs are eye-watering — naturally assumed they’d be placed in plum areas, such as an arena’s lower bowl or the 200-level section: in short, the best seats in the house. Instead, some of them discovered that they’ll be positioned in areas previously colour-coded as Category 2, despite the price difference.

Parts of Category 1 zones in different grounds now look like they’ve been reserved for hospitality guests, so they won’t be allocated. FIFA didn’t actually publish stadium maps before the sales windows opened, and when The Athletic’s Henry Bushnell looked into a raft of complaints, he found that the maps that were made available to prospective buyers were quietly changed at a later date.

So it was that last week, some people who thought they had picked premium seats were in fact in the corners of stadiums, behind the goals, or at generally unfavourable vantage points. “I feel like FIFA intentionally misled us when they provided us with that seating chart,” one fan told Henry. He’s not alone in thinking he’s been short-changed.

The initial map of Seattle’s Lumen Field (above), before it changed in December, with category adjustments circled (below).

‘It’s hard not to feel scammed’

FIFA’s explanation for the confusion would be funny if the buyers affected weren’t parting with so much cash. The governing body said the stadium maps they provided were “indicative” of ticket categories, intended to “help fans understand where their seats could be located within a stadium. These maps were designed to provide guidance rather than the exact seat layout, and reflect the general extent of each ticket category within the stadium”.

What that statement seems to be saying is that there was no commitment on FIFA’s part to allocate fixed seats at the time of purchase. You were paying for a rough area of a stadium and it was FIFA’s prerogative to then decide exactly where to position you. This is what others had to say:

🗣️ “It’s just hard to not feel scammed and/or bamboozled.”🗣️ “A lot of people feel misled, or confused, or generally let down. You can’t change the rules of the game after someone’s played. People paid expecting to be seated in one place.”
🗣️ “It’s about expectation. At the time you’re buying any given product, you expect that product once you’ve paid for it.”
🗣️ “I would’ve liked to, at a minimum, had transparency. ‘OK, this is what you’re buying and this is what you’re getting’. It shouldn’t be a controversy.”

Bear in mind that for the USMNT’s first group game against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles, the difference between the cost of Category 1 and Category 2 tickets was not far off $1,000 (£745). Top whack was supposed to secure that Ferrari. As it is, certain fans are less than impressed with what’s actually rolling out of the garage.

News round-up

Bayern boss it: Kompany’s side win in Bernabeu as front three star again

Champions League titles don’t come easily to Bayern Munich. Even Pep Guardiola couldn’t crack Europe’s hottest competition while there. They’ve won three this century, and while their record is far from shabby, they’re often found wanting at the tournament’s business end.

But rarely have they been better placed to go all the way than they are this season. They’re as dangerous a Bayern unit as we’ve seen since Jupp Heynckes constructed his untouchable team in 2012-13. They went to Real Madrid in the quarter-finals last night, won 2-1, and had their hosts hanging on. Madrid should be happy to have one foot in the tie going into the second leg next week.

Yesterday’s TAFC referenced Bayern’s savage front three of Harry Kane, Luis Diaz, and Michael Olise. As if they were listening, Diaz and Kane scored at the Bernabeu — Kane with his first shot, 22 seconds after half-time — and Olise recorded another assist.

But for a killer pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold teeing up Kylian Mbappe’s reply, below, this tie might have been over. And perhaps it already is. Stop Bayern this year, and the trophy is probably yours.

Arsenal, undoubtedly, have it in them to do that because, as wobbly as the past couple of weeks have been, their powers of resistance are intact. They had a hard time at Sporting CP in Portugal, but stole away with a 1-0 victory, earned at the death by a Kai Havertz strike. Fighting fire with fire doesn’t seem to be the answer to a force like Bayern. Perhaps Arsenal’s defence is the thing that could stop them.

Horror film: Play-offs slipping from Hollywood owners as Wrexham lose 5-1

Sometimes, Wrexham cut a club with no limits. They win promotion, then another, and then a third. They boast financial strength beyond the dreams of most lower-league teams, and nobody ever spoils the party.

That was until yesterday, when Southampton drove into town and gave Hollywood FC an absolute doing. The Championship fixture was set up perfectly — Wrexham in sixth place, holding the league’s last play-off spot, and Southampton a point behind them in seventh — but you wouldn’t have known. Three goals in the last half-hour saw Southampton home 5-1.

The defeat is the second heaviest of Phil Parkinson’s reign as Wrexham manager, and it’s a reality check. Southampton came down from the Premier League last season, and they knocked Arsenal out of the FA Cup on Saturday. They’re highly capable, and the lesson for Wrexham (one they probably didn’t need, in all fairness to them) is that they won’t ride roughshod over sides like that.

Victory last night would have put play-off qualification within Wrexham’s reach, dramatically ramping up talk of a fourth straight promotion. In the cold light of day, the result they endured says “not this year”.

Around TAFC

Catch a match

Selected games (kick-offs 3pm ET/8pm UK unless specified)

Champions League quarter-finals, first leg: Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid — Paramount+, ViX/TNT Sports, HBO Max; Paris Saint-Germain vs Liverpool — Paramount+, DAZN, ViX/TNT Sports, HBO Max.

Europa League quarter-final, first leg: Sporting Braga vs Real Betis, 12.45pm/5.45pm — Paramount+, DAZ, ViX/TNT Sports, HBO Max.

And finally…

(YouTube/@Fanatiz and @L1MAX_)

TAFC subscriber John Stainthorp came out in defence of Thierry Small after we showcased the Preston North End player’s woeful own goal against Queens Park Rangers. “The ‘excuse’ is the Preston pitch,” John wrote. “It’s embarrassingly bad. The ball takes a bobble before Small hits it.”

Fair point. But if you’re reading today, John, can you find any mitigation for Gabriel Taliari fluffing this chance for Remo against Gremio in Brazil on Monday, above? It’s straight out of the “harder to miss” category — and if I were Taliari, I’d be wearing a bag over my head.