MIAMI — A resale ticket to the Colombia v Portugal group stage match at the World Cup in Miami on June 27 carried a cheapest asking price of $2,254 as of May 17, making it the tournament's second-most expensive seat on the resale marketplace. Only the final, with a cheapest resale price of $7,734, was listed higher.

The semi-finals followed, with cheapest resale prices of $2,170 in the Dallas area and $2,117 in Atlanta. The second-costliest group game on resale markets was Scotland v Brazil in Miami, with availability from $1,641.

Other group stage matches were listed at lower entry prices. The Brazil v Morocco game in New York/New Jersey on Saturday, June 13 at 6 p.m. local time had a cheapest resale price of $1,383. The Argentina v Austria game in the Dallas area on Monday, June 22 at 12 p.m. local time was available from $962, and the United States v Paraguay match in Los Angeles on Friday, June 12 at 6 p.m. local time started at $937. The Cape Verde v Saudi Arabia game in Houston on Friday, June 26 at 7 p.m. local time had a cheapest resale price of $156. Group stage resale ticket prices were down 23% on average over the previous 30 days, though essentially unchanged over the previous week.

Ticketing expert Jim McCarthy pointed to several factors behind the Colombia v Portugal price. "It's clearly the last time to see Ronaldo so people are excited about that, the Colombian population is significant there, and Miami has become kind of the party central for this event," McCarthy said. "Also, it's a good match. As group stage matches go there aren't that many with two really good teams," he said.

According to census data, an estimated 1.8 million people of Colombian origin live in the U.S., including more than 310,000 in the Miami area. An estimated 1.4 million people of Portuguese origin live in the U.S., including more than 90,000 in Florida. Colombia and Portugal will have played DR Congo and Uzbekistan before meeting in their third group game. James Rodríguez is 34 years old and Cristiano Ronaldo is 41.

On the broader trajectory of prices heading into the tournament, McCarthy said: "As you approach the last weeks before an event the tendency is downward in terms of ticket prices. Unless there's true scarcity, ticket prices don't tail up at the end, they tail downward, and sometimes they tail downward rapidly."