Tickets for World Cup Qualifying soccer match in Hamilton priced in the thousands

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Published January 25, 2022 at 7:42 pm

Canadian men's national team goalkeeper Milan Borjan hails from Hamilton.

Some of the 12,000 tickets for the Canada-United States soccer showdown in Hamilton have been priced well into the four figures on the secondary market.

As expected, the Jan. 30 match at Tim Hortons Field sold out in under an hour during three presales — or re-presales — held on Tuesday morning. By late in the afternoon, tickets close to the action began appearing on StubHub at seemingly astronomical prices.

The most expensive listing was $3,253 for a front-row seat in Section 116, or Section 117. In Section 115, which is closer to the middle of the field, a front-row seat would run $1,413.

All things being relative, the cheapest ticket available on the site was $178 in row 19 of section 202 in the stadium’s upper level.

A 50-per-cent capacity restriction at the stadium due to COVID-19 protocols necessitated a do-over on ticket sales. Only holders of the initial 24,000 tickets that were sold in mid-December were able to participate.

The Voyageurs supporters group was allotted 1,500 tickets for the match. Fewer than 30 appeared on resale sites, a source said.

The game is set for a 3 p.m. kickoff time on Sunday, and there is an expectation that the North American rivals’ top-of-the-table tilt will be played between snowbanks on the sidelines. Clouds, flurries and minus-6 C temperatures are expected by game time, and Hamilton, of course, has had two sizable snowstorms in the past two weeks.

The Canadian Soccer Association opted for Hamilton for its lone home game of the upcoming three-match FIFA window after the success it had staging games in chilly Edmonton in November. The setting at Commonwealth Stadium was dubbed “Iceteca” when Canada defeated Mexico on Nov. 16 in front of a crowd of 40,000.

Playing in an eastern city will also reduce travel for Canada’s players, who face Honduras on Thursday and El Salvador on Feb. 2.

Canada, which last qualified for a men’s World Cup in 1986, leads the eight-nation CONCACAF qualifier with 16 points from eight games. The U.S. is second with 15 points, with Mexico and Panama sharing third place with 14.

Each team has six matches left, with the final three taking place in March. The top three teams will qualify for this fall’s World Cup in Qatar, and the fourth-place team will be placed into an intercontinental play-in game.

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