Katie Wilson announces free World Cup tickets for 1,400 Seattle youths
More than 1,400 Seattle youths and their caregivers are scoring free tickets to FIFA Men's World Cup matches in Seattle starting this month, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson announced at a news conference Wednesday. It's believed to be the largest local youth access program for the 2026 World Cup to date.
The initiative was made in partnership between the city and the Seattle FIFA World Cup 2026 Local Organizing Committee. No city funds are being used, according to Jonah Spangenthal-Lee, the mayor's spokesperson. Rather, the full cost of the tickets is being covered by fiscal sponsors including Seattle sports teams and local businesses and organizations such as Alaska Airlines, Amazon, Boeing, Microsoft, the Port of Seattle, Puyallup Tribe of Indians, the University of Washington and more.
"This is about much more than just attending a soccer match," Wilson said. "It's about telling young people that they belong in the biggest moments that our city has to offer. It's about showing them that the world is larger than they may have imagined, that there is a place for them in it, and it's about demonstrating the values that define Seattle: that opportunity should be shared, that community matters and that when something extraordinary comes to our city, we make sure that everyone has the chance to be part of it.
This will be the first opportunity for many of these youths to see a global soccer event in person. The last time the U.S. hosted the FIFA Men's World Cup was in 1994. The U.S. then hosted two FIFA Women's World Cups, in 1999 and 2003. Seattle has never been a host city for either tournament.
Each participating youth will receive a ticket for a match, a stadium food voucher and a Seattle FIFA World Cup 26 scarf as part of the initiative. Select nonprofit groups will also receive free shuttle service to and from matches in partnership with King County Metro.
The tickets will be distributed by recipient organizations that work across the region with a focus on engaging and supporting youths; those organizations have already been identified and will be announced over the coming days, before tournament kickoff. The local organizing committee did not immediately provide the total dollar amount of the initiative, or how the organizations were chosen.
One of the chosen organizations is the Somali Health Board, which provides culturally appropriate healthcare services to the Somali community in King County. At Wednesday's news conference, a sea of purple jerseys filled the room as young members of the Somali Health Board Soccer Club posed for photos with the mayor.
"The Somali Health Board Soccer Club was built to give our youth something to run toward," said Najma Osman, Somali Health Board executive director. "We've grown to something we're incredibly proud of: a soccer club with 12 competing teams across Washington state, providing our young people access to this once-in-a-generation sporting event, right here in our home city of Seattle. It's more than an exciting experience. It's a statement that our youth belong on the world stage - they belong as fans, they belong as athletes, and as our future."
Other organizations that will receive free youth tickets include the African Youth Sports Academy and the Seattle Youth Safety Ambassadors. In total, the tickets will be distributed among 40 youth-serving organizations in the Seattle area.
"Thank you greatly to our corporate partners, honestly, because, as everyone knows, the tickets are not cheap," said Peter Tomozawa, CEO of the local organizing committee. "We were not gifted these tickets. We had to go out and actually raise the money, so these kids are going to be going to a match."
For the general public, tickets are still available for the matches in Seattle though FIFA's last-minute sales phase, which will last throughout the tournament. Though prices have dropped slightly in the last month, the cheapest tickets still cost hundreds of dollars - a burden this initiative aims to ease for young soccer fans.
"I know that this will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Wilson said. "They'll walk into a stadium filled with energy and excitement. They'll watch the world's best athletes compete, and they'll be part of a moment that connects people across continents, cultures and languages. And years from now, when they think about the World Cup coming to Seattle, they'll know that this city made sure that they had a seat in that stadium.
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This story was originally published June 4, 2026 at 4:49 PM.