FIFA Denies Reports of Ticketless Fans at England-Croatia Match

FIFA has stated it currently has no evidence to support claims that fans managed to enter England's first World Cup match against Croatia without tickets. Eyewitness accounts from the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, suggested that numerous individuals bypassed security checks and accessed the venue freely.

One observer recounted to Mail Sport, “There were big gaps at the side of the ticket barriers and people just strolled through. There were volunteers who were basically old ladies and they weren’t stopping anyone.” Despite these reports, a FIFA spokesperson reiterated, “At this stage, we have no indication of fans entering the stadium without a valid match ticket for the game in question.”

The match attracted an official attendance of 70,389, just shy of the venue's total capacity of 70,649, as confirmed by FIFA prior to the tournament. The pricing of tickets has sparked significant discussion leading up to the event.

Initially, tickets through England’s supporter travel scheme started at £198 ($375) for the Croatia match, but following fan criticism, FIFA committed to ensuring that 10% of tickets in this allocation would be priced at $60.