CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — FIFA has canceled World Cup tickets issued to about 60 fans who mistakenly got them for free because of a website error.
The tickets were “allocated at no charge (0 USD) due to a prior payment issue during the checkout process,” FIFA said in a statement Thursday.
“FIFA regrets the error and any inconvenience caused,” soccer's ruling body said. “The tickets requested by these fans remain reserved, and the affected fans have been invited to complete payment of the correct amount.”
It is the latest glitch in an often controversial World Cup ticketing program that the attorneys general of New York and New Jersey are investigating for possible violations of consumer protection laws.
The mispriced tickets were sold through the official World Cup site on May 21, FIFA said in an email message to buyers.
That date was more than three months after FIFA President Gianni Infantino said all 104 World Cup games had sold out.
Tickets are still being sold by FIFA for games at the World Cup, which opens next Thursday in Mexico City. It is unclear if seats for games in less demand will drop in price under FIFA’s surge pricing model that has been controversial for fans.
FIFA also is operating its own resale platform — and taking 15% commission from both buyers and sellers — in order to cut out ticket dealers from the market. However, sales platforms such as Seat Geek were offering widespread availability Friday for many games.
Tickets for the 2026 World Cup are wildly more expensive than any previous edition, which FIFA has justified as helping earn billions of dollars it will give to member federations for developing the game globally.
FIFA took control of pricing and selling tickets as part of bringing World Cup operations in-house. The long-time model at previous editions was working with host nations’ local organizing committees.
When the soccer federations of the United States, Canada and Mexico won hosting rights in 2018, they promised to sell hundreds of thousands of tickets at $21 each for group-stage games.
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
FIFA President Gianni Infantino makes comments during the opening ceremony of the International Broadcast Center Monday, June 1, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
HEBRON, West Bank (AP) — Israeli troops killed a seven-month-old Palestinian baby boy after firing at his parents’ vehicle in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.
Sam Fahd Abu Haikal was killed Friday evening, and his parents were wounded while driving in the Tel Rumeida area south of Hebron City, according to the ministry.
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA said the infant was critically wounded after being struck in the jaw by the same bullet that injured his mother. He later died of his injuries. His father, Fahd Abdul Aziz Abu Haikal, a lecturer at Bethlehem University, was shot in the hand. They were traveling from Bethlehem to visit family in Hebron when soldiers opened fire, the agency reported.
Israel’s military has scaled up military operations in the West Bank since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack that killed some 1,200 people and took 251 people hostage, which triggered the war in Gaza. Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has so far killed more than 72,900 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, is generally seen as reliable by United Nations agencies and independent experts.
The United Nations said last month that more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem since the war began, at least 240 of them children. Forty-nine people have been killed since the start of this year, it said.
The infant’s funeral is expected later Saturday.
The army said an initial inquiry found that the injured were uninvolved civilians and said the situation is under review.
Israel's military said Friday that soldiers shot at a vehicle that was perceived to be accelerating toward them in the Hebron area. It said soldiers responded with single shots, wounding three Palestinians who were evacuated for medical treatment.
In March, Israeli soldiers fired on a car carrying a family in the northern West Bank, killing four people, including two children, the Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry said at the time.
Israeli soldiers accused of harming Palestinians are rarely penalized and were indicted in fewer than 1% of cases based on 2,427 complaints alleging wrongdoing between 2016 and 2024, according to Israeli rights group Yesh Din.
More than 700,000 Israelis live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 from Jordan and sought by the Palestinians for a future state.
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Magdy reported from Cairo, Egypt and Mednick reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.
Fahd Abu Heikal, 41 displays a mobile photo of his seven month old Palestinian baby boy Sam, who was killed on Friday when Israeli soldiers fired at the vehicle carrying him and his parents in Tel Rumeida, at a hospital in the West Bank city of Hebron Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
A man inspects the shattered family vehicle of seven month old Palestinian baby boy Sam Fahd Abu Heikal, who was killed on Friday when Israeli soldiers fired at the vehicle carrying him and his parents, in Tel Rumeida, in the West Bank city of Hebron Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
A bullet hole is seen at the windshield of the shattered family vehicle of seven month old Palestinian baby boy Sam Fahd Abu Heikal, who was killed on Friday when Israeli soldiers fired at the vehicle carrying him and his parents, in Tel Rumeida, in the West Bank city of Hebron Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Child care bag of seven month old Palestinian baby boy Sam Fahd Abu Heikal, who was killed on Friday when Israeli soldiers fired at the vehicle carrying him and his parents in Tel Rumeida, at the shattered family vehicle in the West Bank city of Hebron Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Fahd Abu Heikal, 41 displays a mobile photo of his seven month old Palestinian baby boy Sam, who was killed on Friday when Israeli soldiers fired at the vehicle carrying him and his parents, in Tel Rumeida, at a hospital in the West Bank city of Hebron Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
