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The World Cup is one of the biggest sporting events in the world, and it's happening right here in North America in 2026. The first game of the World Cup will happen on June 11, 2026, in Mexico City, while the final will occur on July 19, 2026, in New York/New Jersey. FIFA anticipates more than 6.5 million fans will attend the World Cup, spread across 104 matches played by 48 teams.
Soon, American Airlines AAdvantage® members will have another opportunity to redeem miles for tickets. Here's what you need to know about getting Phase 2 tickets.
Use AAdvantage Miles to Buy World Cup Tickets
Tickets to the World Cup will be released in phases. The first was a Visa Presale Draw from September 10 to 19, 2025, for Visa cardholders. Those who were selected for the first draw were notified beginning September 29, 2025, and were able to purchase tickets starting October 1. Then, there was the Early Ticket Draw, with an entry period between October 27 and 31, 2025. We're now in the third phase, the Random Selection Draw, which runs until January 13, 2026.
If you're like me and weren't selected, don't worry. There should be several more subsequent draws, as well as a FIFA Resale/Exchange marketplace, so there are more opportunities to buy tickets on the horizon.
Unfortunately, these tickets are significantly more expensive than we originally thought. After the first round of tickets went on sale for chosen Visa cardholders, it appears that dynamic pricing is in full effect. The cheapest tickets — Category 4 tickets to group stage matches — were forecast to cost $60.
However, these tickets are extremely rare, so you'll likely need to shell out quite a bit more to snag a ticket. In all likelihood, you'll pay hundreds of dollars, if not more, for any ticket to the World Cup. And somehow, those presale tickets were still affordable compared to today's prices. Tickets have increased with each subsequent sales phase.
You'll be able to buy up to four tickets per match for up to 10 matches, for a total of 40 tickets. However, American Airlines AAdvantage members will have a unique opportunity to use miles to purchase tickets.
How to score World Cup tickets with AAdvantage miles
Starting December 17, 2025, AAdvantage members will be able to redeem miles to some of the most-anticipated matches. Those with AA elite status will have first access:
- December 17: AAdvantage Executive Platinum status and ConciergeKey members
- December 18: AAdvantage Gold status, AAdvantage Platinum status and AAdvantage Platinum Pro status members
- December 19: All AAdvantage members
To see how many miles you'll need for tickets, head to the American Airlines Vacation / FIFA World Cup 2026 website. Advertised prices are for a set of two tickets. For example, two tickets to the opening match in Mexico City start at 345,000 (up from 275,000 miles during Phase 1), while tickets to the final match cost a whopping 1,060,000 (up from 965,000 miles). Tickets to a match during the group stage vary significantly based on the city and match number.
The lowest currently advertised matches are in Atlanta, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Mexico City, Monterrey, and Toronto, all of which have matches starting at 100,000 miles per pair of tickets (up from 75,000).
If you don't have enough miles to purchase a ticket, you can always buy American Airlines miles in bulk or transfer in Citi ThankYou® Rewards Points. However, this is hardly cost-effective. Given that AwardWallet users have recently redeemed AAdvantage miles for 2.56¢ apiece, spending 1,060,000 miles on a pair of tickets (even if it's the final) might mean you're seriously overpaying. However, it might be a workaround to score some hard-to-get tickets if American has exclusive access to a certain batch of tickets.
Related: American Airlines Transfer Partners: Here’s Which Points You Can Convert to AAdvantage Miles
Final Thoughts
Now that we know how many AAdvantage miles are required to actually purchase Phase 2 World Cup tickets, it's a far less interesting proposition. Attending the World Cup is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Although I'm open to using my miles to score a ticket, I'm not in the business of wasting my miles.
The 2030 World Cup will be in Morocco, Spain, and Portugal, so if there was ever a time to attend, it's while it's in our own backyard. After seeing these prices in cash and miles, I wish I had booked a trip to Qatar in 2022.
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