The official attendance for the Group A match between South Korea and Czechia on Thursday night shows 44,985 fans showed up to Estadio Akron for the second contest of the 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament.
That figure from FIFA would mean attendance was less than 1,000 shy of the 45,664 capacity at Estadio Akron.
However, soccer fans aren’t buying the official attendance number.
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Numerous pictures of the crowd during the game circulated online, and it appears the number of fans, at least in seats, were many thousands short of the 44,985 figure to watch South Korea defeat Czechia 2-1. The online outrage comes as a time FIFA is being scrutinized for high ticket prices under a “dynamic pricing” policy.
On Friday, FIFA Media released a statement defending the attendance figure, suggesting that the number comes from tickets scanned and that some fans chose to stand in concourses instead of sitting in their assigned seats.
“Official attendance figures reflect the number of tickets scanned and spectators present within the stadium footprint, rather than visual assessments of seating occupancy at any given moment during the match,” the statement reads.
“FIFA works closely with stadium authorities and ticketing teams to ensure all published figures are based on verified operational data. Please note that, during last night’s match in Guadalajara, several ticketed fans could be seen standing in concourses rather than staying in their assigned seats throughout the match.”
Fans responding to the statement on social media didn’t seem to buy FIFA’s official narrative.
“What does “spectators present within the stadium footprint” mean? Looking at television images and photographs of the stadium bowl suggest there were 20,000 empty seats when the match was in progress in the first half. Where were those spectators, who never occupied the seats?” wrote a fan.
“So people are paying extortionate prices just to stand in the concourse? FIFA is run by corporate liars,” suggested a poster.
“It’s fine, guys. All of these people were just in the concourse. Weirdly, this has never happened at Chivas or Mexico matches that aren’t extortionately priced,” posted another.
“This is embarrassing”, wrote a fan. “So thousands will be roaming around and standing in concourses instead of sitting in their seats to watch the game? Very stupid explanation.”
“You’ve ruined the best tournament in the history of the sport. You should all be ashamed of yourselves,” believes a fan.
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