A Tacoma mother says the World Cup resale tickets she bought months ago never showed up in her FIFA account, leaving her family stranded at the gate on match day. With kickoff at Seattle Stadium getting closer and closer, the parents in the group ultimately let their kids head into the Belgium–Egypt match while the adults peeled off to watch from a nearby bar. The mess has become one more chapter in a growing stack of World Cup ticket-transfer headaches.
Lara Herrmann told FOX 13 Seattle she bought the seats in December as a Christmas gift, then spent hours on the phone and over email trying to get the transfer to land in her FIFA account. "Two hours last night, three hours today," she said. Herrmann said StubHub told her a refund would be issued an hour before kickoff if the transfer still had not gone through, but she said the refund never appeared and her calls to customer service went unanswered as time ran out.
Ticket Troubles Stretch Beyond One Tacoma Family
Herrmann’s ordeal tracks with broader complaints about FIFA's 2026 ticketing system in Seattle and across North America, where fans have reported late seat assignments and confusing resale rules, according to The Spokesman-Review. That reporting notes that regulators and consumer advocates have questioned how tickets were allocated and how changes to seat maps and pricing were communicated to buyers.
StubHub Cites Tech Woes And A New App
StubHub did not address Herrmann's specific order but offered a statement that partly blamed "the event organizer’s poor technology infrastructure, newly-announced transfer restrictions, and a new app" for delays, as reported by FOX 13 Seattle. The company says its FanProtect guarantee provides buyers with replacement tickets or refunds, yet some customers say they still ran into delays that left them without working tickets in time for kickoff.
Where Fans Can Turn On Match Day
Fans whose tickets have not appeared can get help at stadium Fan Info Points or from roaming ticketing teams inside Seattle Stadium, according to FIFA's Seattle A–Z guide. If you bought on a resale platform, officials advise that you hold on to all communications, take screenshots of any promises or delivery notices, and bring proof of purchase when you ask for help in person.
Complaints And Regulators Turn Up The Heat
Regulators are now digging in. The attorneys general in New York and New Jersey have subpoenaed FIFA over ticketing practices and pricing, a move that highlights wider scrutiny of how World Cup tickets were sold and resold, according to The Guardian. Meanwhile, complaints to the Better Business Bureau and other consumer sites point to longstanding problems with delayed refunds and failed transfers on secondary marketplaces.
Herrmann says she plans to keep pressing for a refund and to document every exchange with StubHub. Her experience is a pointed reminder that until a transfer clears and tickets appear in your account, resale seats carry real risk, especially for high‑stakes events like the World Cup.
