SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA — Former Liverpool FC chief executive Peter Moore said FIFA's dynamic ticket pricing and U.S. travel restrictions are placing the 2026 World Cup final out of reach for ordinary supporters. Tickets for the final are fetching prices above $2 million on resale markets, where reselling above face value is legal in the United States.

"Dynamic pricing doesn't belong in the World Cup and football," Moore said. "Gianni Infantino misread the situation and thought he could get away with it."

Moore, 71, who led Liverpool from 2017 to 2020, said the resale environment had been overtaken by speculators rather than supporters. "Now, tickets are in the hands of bots and speculators, who don't intend to go to games. They are harvesting tickets and hoping they can sell them in the next six to eight weeks, and I don't see that happening," he said.

He questioned the broader implications for the tournament's character. "It's the world's game, but who is this World Cup for if the world can't get in?" he said. He added: "It means: tickets are no longer just for fans. They're tradable assets. It's dystopian, and it's an existential threat to the game."

Under travel bans imposed by President Trump in an executive order, fans from Ivory Coast, Haiti, Iran and Senegal cannot enter the United States unless they already hold valid visas. "I just hope enough people are there to add to the atmosphere of the game," he said.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino expects revenues from the World Cup to exceed $11 billion, with $3 billion projected from ticketing and hospitality sales alone. Infantino has defended the pricing structure by saying the World Cup, held every four years, is FIFA's only source of income and that the governing body reinvests revenue to develop football in all 211 member nations.

"Why not make it more reasonable and accessible and make, maybe, $8 billion?" he said. "FIFA is a nonprofit, built to serve players and fans of the world. That's its remit, not to be like a commercial organisation and maximise the opportunity to make as much money as possible," he said.

Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber has said U.S. fans are accustomed to paying high prices for premium events. Moore predicted that resale prices could ease as the tournament approaches. "I'd just watch, and as the weeks go on, if tickets aren't moving, the secondary market will come down," he said.