In this guide
Quarter-final schedule and venuesHow the last eight got hereWhy every quarter-final is in the United StatesWhat a quarter-final ticket costsThe three ways to buy, and what each really involvesConditional tickets and what happens if your team goes outGetting into the stadium with a mobile ticketHow to avoid getting scammedBuying from the United KingdomBuying from the Middle East and North AfricaFrom the last eight to the finalFAQsThe World Cup quarter-finals run across three days, from Thursday 9 July to Saturday 11 July 2026, featuring four single-elimination ties that cut the last eight down to the last four. This is the round where the field narrows to a genuine shortlist of contenders, and for the first time in the tournament, every match is played on United States soil. This guide sets out when and where each quarter-final is played, what a seat costs and how to buy World Cup quarter-final tickets without losing money to a fraudster or a resale order that collapses at the worst moment.
The public sales that ran through 2025 and early 2026 are closed, so fans now buy through the organiser's last-minute releases or on resale. The live quarter-final ticket listings are the fastest way to see what is available for each of the four confirmed ties and what it costs in the final days before kick-off.
Quarter-final schedule and venues
The four quarter-finals occupy three days, with two matches on the Saturday and one on each of the Thursday and Friday before it. The four winners advance to the semi-finals on 14 and 15 July, then the bracket runs to the third-place match in Miami on 18 July and the final at MetLife Stadium on 19 July. Four host cities stage a tie, all of them in the United States, which is a clear break from the earlier rounds that crossed into Canada and Mexico. The table below carries the date, the match number, the tie, the venue and the local kick-off for each of the four games.
| Date | Match | Tie | Venue | Seating plan | Kick-off (local) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu 9 Jul | 97 | France v Morocco | Gillette Stadium, Boston | Gillette Stadium seating plan | 4:00 PM ET |
| Fri 10 Jul | 98 | Spain v Belgium | SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles | SoFi Stadium seating plan | 3:00 PM PT |
| Sat 11 Jul | 99 | Norway v England | Hard Rock Stadium, Miami | Hard Rock Stadium seating plan | 5:00 PM ET |
| Sat 11 Jul | 100 | Argentina v Switzerland | Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City | Arrowhead Stadium seating plan | 9:00 PM CT |
All four ties are now confirmed. France meet Morocco in Boston on Thursday, a rematch of the 2022 semi-final, Spain face Belgium in Los Angeles on Friday, and Saturday carries the double bill, with Norway against England in Miami and the holders Argentina against Switzerland in Kansas City. Arrowhead is the loudest ground in American sport on its day, and the 9 pm local kick-off there will close the round under lights.
How the last eight got here
The line-up is complete, and the Round of 16 saved its best for last. Argentina trailed Egypt 2-0 with 13 minutes of normal time left, then scored three times through Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi and a stoppage-time Enzo Fernandez winner to survive 3-2, with Messi's equaliser his 21st World Cup goal and enough to retake the Golden Boot lead. Hours later Switzerland outlasted Colombia 4-3 on penalties after a goalless 120 minutes in Vancouver, reaching their first quarter-final since 1954. They join a round that has already lost Brazil, Portugal and the host nation.
| Quarter-final | Route through the last 16 |
|---|---|
| France v Morocco, Boston, Thu 9 Jul | France 1-0 Paraguay; Morocco 3-0 Canada |
| Spain v Belgium, Los Angeles, Fri 10 Jul | Spain 1-0 Portugal; Belgium 4-1 USA |
| Norway v England, Miami, Sat 11 Jul | Norway 2-1 Brazil; England 3-2 Mexico |
| Argentina v Switzerland, Kansas City, Sat 11 Jul | Argentina 3-2 Egypt; Switzerland 0-0 Colombia (4-3 on penalties) |
Every tie carries its own pull. Boston repeats the 2022 semi-final between France and the first African side ever to reach that stage, Los Angeles pits Spain's five-match run without conceding against a Belgium attack that has scored three or more in three straight games, Miami pairs Erling Haaland with an England side in a third consecutive quarter-final, and Kansas City gives the holders a Swiss side that has kept the tightest defence of the knockouts. For a fuller read on how the bracket could break from here, our look at the most likely knockout ties of the 2026 World Cup sets out the routes in detail.
Why every quarter-final is in the United States
The earlier knockout rounds spread across all three host countries, with ties in Mexico City, Vancouver and Toronto sitting alongside the American grounds. From the quarter-finals onward, that changes, and all four last-eight matches, both semi-finals, the third-place match and the final are played in the United States. That single fact simplifies a lot of the planning for an overseas fan. You are dealing with one country, one set of entry requirements and one set of resale rules, rather than weighing up whether a tie might fall in Canada or Mexico with their own paperwork and pricing.
It matters for the seat too. The Mexican and Canadian grounds used earlier in the tournament sit under local rules that cap resale at the original price, but no quarter-final is affected by that, because every last-eight tie is on American soil. The trade-off is that demand concentrates on four cities rather than eight, so flights and hotels in Boston, Los Angeles, Miami and Kansas City over that window will move quickly. If you are mapping a route through the knockouts, the Round of 16 listings show the round that feeds these ties, and the wider World Cup 2026 ticket pages cover every stage in one place.
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What a quarter-final ticket costs
A quarter-final sits well above the earlier knockout rounds on price and a long way below the semi-finals and the final. Face values run from roughly $275 to $1,775 before the buyer fee, the equivalent of about £208 to £1,345 at the late-June 2026 rate of one pound to $1.32. Seats fall into four public categories set by how high in the bowl they sit: Category 1 in the lower tier near the halfway line is the dearest, Category 2 and Category 3 sit above and around it, and Category 4 in the upper corners carries the lowest face value. A separate $60 supporter tier exists, but it is handed out through national federations rather than sold openly, so it is not a price the public can reach.
Two things have pushed real prices past those face values. The organiser used dynamic pricing for the first time at a World Cup, so prices move with demand like airline fares, and reporting by The Athletic and NPR found that prices for more than 90 of the 104 matches were raised between October 2025 and April 2026, with the three main categories up by an average of 34 per cent. On top of that, primary stock is nearly gone, so most knockout seats now change hands on resale, where the figure paid runs higher again. The table below shows where the quarter-finals sit on the climb from the first knockout round to the showpiece, using published face-value bands.
| Round | Face-value band (USD) |
|---|---|
| Round of 32 | $105 to $750 |
| Round of 16 | $170 to $980 |
| Quarter-final | $275 to $1,775 |
| Semi-final | $420 to $3,295 |
| Third-place match | $165 to $1,070 |
| Final | $2,030 to $8,680 |
Which nation's land in a tie moves the price as much as the round does? A quarter-final with a host nation or a heavyweight such as Brazil or Argentina in it will clear its stock fast and hold a firm resale price, while a pairing of two lower-profile sides can stay within reach closer to kick-off. The size of the ground plays a part too, since a larger bowl releases more inventory than a tighter one. One timing point is worth knowing: resale prices have tended to soften in the seven to 14 days before a match as sellers offload seats they can no longer use, so patience has paid off on the quieter ties. Check the relevant seating plan before you commit, because the four categories map onto each stadium differently.
The three ways to buy, and what each really involves
There are three legitimate routes to a quarter-final ticket, and they differ on price, certainty and fees. Demand does not behave the same for every slot, so a tie with Brazil or Argentina in it can be gone within minutes of the teams being confirmed, while a low-profile pairing sits unsold into the final days.
Buying direct at face value
The organiser's last-minute sales phase has been running since 1 April and stays open to the end of the tournament. It is first come, first served, with immediate confirmation and dynamic pricing. This is the only way to pay face value, but live availability for the bigger ties comes and goes as returns and held seats are released, so it rewards patience and a quick hand once a slot opens.
The resale exchange run by the organiser
Fans who can no longer attend can relist through the organiser's resale marketplace, which stays open until one hour before kick-off. It charges a fee on both sides, reported at 15 per cent from the buyer and 15 per cent from the seller, so the headline figure is not the figure you pay. There is no price cap on these listings, and because all four quarter-finals are in the United States, the same American rules apply to every tie, so sellers can and do list above face value across the round.
Verified secondary marketplaces
Platforms outside the organiser's own system are useful once face-value stock has gone, and a large venue such as Hard Rock Stadium in Miami tends to carry more resale inventory than a tighter ground. Any seat still has to move through the organiser's app to reach your phone, and these platforms carry the risks set out further down, so read our notes on the things to check before buying World Cup tickets first and confirm the exact section, row and seat before you commit.
Conditional tickets and what happens if your team goes out
If you wanted to commit to a quarter-final seat for your nation before knowing whether it would get there, the organiser sold conditional supporter tickets for exactly that. The seat is valid only if your team reaches this specific round. If they are knocked out earlier, in the group stage or either of the first two knockout rounds, the ticket is voided and refunded minus a small fee, reported at around $10 in the United States, $15 in Canada and 200 pesos in Mexico.
Two details catch people out. Group-stage matches are never conditional because your team is guaranteed to play them, so the rule only bites from the knockouts onward. And if you hold a conditional ticket for the quarter-finals, you cannot also buy a regular ticket for the same round, so there is no way to double-cover yourself. For a side carrying heavy travelling support, such as Argentina or Brazil, that matters: fans who pre-committed to a last-eight slot are leaning on the conditional rules to work out what they get back if the result does not fall their way. If you did not pre-commit, your only route now is a single-match ticket for the specific tie, bought once the teams are known.
Getting into the stadium with a mobile ticket
Every quarter-final ticket is digital. There are no paper tickets, no printed PDFs and no emailed barcodes, and a screenshot will not get you through the gate. The ticket lives in the organiser's app, and the barcode refreshes roughly every 30 seconds, so it cannot be copied or passed on as an image. There is no box office at the ground, which turns a forgotten phone or a flat battery into a real problem rather than a minor one.
The entry process is the same at all four venues. Each attendee needs a registered identity account with the organiser, and the name on it has to match the government photo identification you carry on the day. That one rule defeats most casual resale, because a ticket bought from a stranger has to be transferred into your account in advance to work at all. A ticket is also not a visa, so you still need the relevant United States entry permit arranged separately and in good time. If you are unsure how the registration works, our explainer on whether a Fan ID is required to attend walks through the steps and the documents you need.
How to avoid getting scammed
Knockout demand brings the fraudsters out, and the secondary market has seen genuine problems this summer. In late May, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center warned that criminals had built fake websites impersonating the organiser's own ticketing site, using small misspellings and odd domain endings to harvest names, addresses and banking details from fans searching for seats. Buyers have also reported orders cancelled days before a match as prices surged, seats quietly downgraded to a worse part of the ground and listings for tickets the seller never actually held. Where a marketplace promises to make it right, the fix is often at the platform's discretion rather than a guarantee of the seats you paid for. The pricing dispute has drawn the attention of the New York and New Jersey attorneys general, who subpoenaed the organiser in late May over its ticketing.
The defence is straightforward. Type the address yourself rather than following an advert or a link, buy at face value through the organiser wherever you can, and if you use a resale platform, confirm the exact seat, insist the transfer goes through the organiser's app and keep a record of everything. Never pay a stranger by bank transfer, gift card or cryptocurrency, because those routes leave you with nothing to recover. Our guide on how to spot a ticket scam covers the warning signs in detail. 1BoxOffice is not the organiser and does not sell on behalf of any nation, but its 150 per cent money-back guarantee removes the cancellation risk that catches out fans chasing a last-minute knockout seat.
Buying from the United Kingdom
For fans travelling from Britain, the buying process is identical, but two things change the planning. Everything is priced in dollars, so the figure you pay moves with the exchange rate, which sat at $1.32 per pound in late June 2026 and turns the $275 to $1,775 face-value band into roughly £208 to £1,345 before fees. The time difference is the other factor. Boston kicks off at 9 pm and Los Angeles at 8 pm UK time, both comfortable evening watches, but the Saturday double bill runs late, with Miami at 10 pm and the Kansas City tie kicking off at 2 am on the Sunday morning at home.
If you are following England through the knockouts, a quarter-final would fall in Miami should they win their half of the bracket, so that is the city and the late kick-off to plan around. Pair the buying plan with our host city guides, which cover transport and what to expect in each location, sort the United States entry permit early, and budget for flights and several nights' accommodation before the ticket, because across a knockout run, the travel will outweigh the seat.
Buying from the Middle East and North Africa
MENA-based supporters have a strong reason to plan, with a record number of nations from the region in the field and more than one capable of reaching the last eight. The ticketing rules do not change, but visa lead times and long-haul flights make the difference, so the seat is the easy part. There is one quiet advantage for Gulf buyers: the Saudi riyal and the Emirati dirham are pegged to the dollar, so the exchange-rate risk that British fans carry barely applies, and the dollar price is close to a fixed price at home.
Morocco are already in the last eight after a 3-0 dismantling of Canada, and their quarter-final is the pick of the round: France in Boston on Thursday 9 July, a rematch of the 2022 semi-final that Morocco reached as the first African side in history. Egypt can join them by beating Argentina in Atlanta on Tuesday, which would put two Arab nations in the last eight for the first time. Demand from North Africa is heavy on both ties, so as with travel from Britain, settle the route and the paperwork first, because a seat with no visa and no flight is of no use to anyone.
From the last eight to the final
The quarter-finals are the round where the field of eight becomes the last four, and the four winners move straight into the semi-finals, the first at AT&T Stadium in Dallas on 14 July and the second at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on 15 July. The two losing semi-finalists meet in the third-place match at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on 18 July, and the two winners contest the final at MetLife Stadium on 19 July. If you are buying ahead of the result, the semi-final listings and the final listings are the natural next step once a quarter-final is settled, and our guide to buying tickets for the final sets out the pricing and the pitfalls for the biggest match of all.
FAQs
1. Are quarter-final tickets sold as a bundle covering all four ties?
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No, each knockout match is sold separately, and the only purchase that covers more than one game is a hospitality series.
2. Will the same seat category be in the same place at every stadium?
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No, the four categories map onto each ground differently, so the same category number can mean a different location from one venue to the next.
3. Can I swap my quarter-final ticket for another match if my team loses?
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No, a knockout ticket is tied to one fixture, though you can relist it on the organiser's resale marketplace until one hour before kick-off.
4. How soon do quarter-final seats appear after a last-16 result?
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Listings tend to update within hours of a Round of 16 match finishing and the winning nation being confirmed.
5. Can I be turned away at the gate with a valid ticket?
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Yes, if the name on your ticket account does not match the photo identification you present, entry can be refused.
1BoxOffice has handled secondary football tickets since 2006, and its 150 per cent money-back guarantee is built for the kind of last-minute knockout buying the quarter-finals force on fans, when a tie only gets its teams' days before kick-off.
Sources: tournament organiser ticketing communications, ESPN, The Athletic, NPR, BBC Sport, Sky Sports, NBC Sports, Associated Press, the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center and the Office of the New York State Attorney General.
