USMNT vs. Paraguay ticket prices steady as World Cup opener nears

As kickoff of the U.S. men's national team's World Cup opener approaches, tickets are still pricey — and scarce.

>The USMNT will face Paraguay on Friday, June 12 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, the first game of the tournament on U.S. soil.

>If fans were hoping for tickets to the opener to eventually drop in price, they may end up disappointed. As of Thursday night, less than 24 hours before kickoff, prices remained stubbornly high.

>According to TicketData.com, which tracks prices on third-party sites, the get-in price was just over $1,000 on Thursday night.

>That price represented a 14% increase in the past three days, and a 25% increase in the previous seven days.

>On FIFA's official ticket website, there were only a handful of tickets available, the cheapest of which was an $875 obstructed view seat in Category 2.

>It is worth noting that FIFA has held tickets back during the entire sales process, attempting to make inventory seem more scarce than it actually is.

>The prices varied a bit more on FIFA's official resale platform, but the get-in price still hovered right near $700.

>FIFA has been heavily criticized for its ticket prices at this World Cup. On Wednesday, FIFA president Gianni Infantino emphatically defended his organization's policy.

>Infantino has continued to insist that the money FIFA generates is reinvested into global soccer development.

>"As FIFA president, I have the statutory responsibility to generate the income which allows FIFA to invest in all of these countries, where otherwise nobody would invest," Infantino told reporters in Mexico City. "If nobody thinks of them, well, we do. It would be irresponsible if we don't generate the right revenues in this market."

>This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: USMNT vs Paraguay ticket prices stay high as World Cup opener nears