Tickets for Sunday's FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and Spain are commanding astronomical prices, with resale markets showing asking prices between $10,000 and $60,000. The clash has ignited unprecedented demand among football fans desperate to see Lionel Messi face off against Spain's teenage sensation Lamine Yamal.
FIFA's official resale platform started Saturday morning with its cheapest ticket priced at $6,411.25 for a mid-level seat behind the goal. Within hours, those bargain seats vanished from the platform.
By midday, the lowest-priced available tickets sat in the stadium's upper corners at nearly $10,000 each. Fans wanting a better view of the action would need to spend around $16,000, according to ESPN.
Premium hospitality packages reached as high as $60,000. Other major resale marketplaces, including SeatGeek and StubHub, showed similarly steep prices, with upper-tier seats starting at $10,000 and lower-bowl tickets approaching $35,000.
The match pits Argentina, the defending champions, against Spain, who won the World Cup in 2010 and are chasing a second title. Argentina's pursuit of a fourth World Cup crown would make them the first nation to successfully defend the trophy since Brazil achieved the feat in 1958 and 1962.
Messi, widely regarded as one of football's greatest players ever, heads into his third World Cup final. The 39-year-old captain has already netted eight goals and provided four assists at this year's tournament.
Messi currently shares the Golden Boot race with France's Kylian Mbappe. He's also eyeing back-to-back World Cup titles for his country.
The final also resurrects a fixture that never happened before the tournament began. Argentina and Spain were scheduled to meet in the Finalissima in March in Qatar, but organisers cancelled the match because of the Middle East conflict.
