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Bray: Staggering cost to watch Man City in FIFA Club World Cup revealed as £1700 tickets on sale

Kyle Walker lifts the Club World Cup trophy

Any Manchester City fans hoping to follow the club around the USA next summer as they seek to defend their Club World Cup crown may have second thoughts after seeing the astronomical ticket prices released by FIFA this week.

City learned their Club World Cup opponents last week in a bizarre draw featuring Donald Trump, where they were pitted against Wydad Casablanca, Al Ain of Abu Dhabi and Juventus. The schedule begins in Philadelphia, continues in Atlanta, and the group stage concludes in Orlando.

If City win their group, they will stay in Orlando for potential last-16 and quarter-final ties before the semi-final and final will be at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. If they finish second, a last-16 clash against Real Madrid could await in Miami followed by the remaining games at the MetLife.

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That schedule already provides City fans with plenty of costs in terms of travelling - a quick online search suggests return flights just for the group stage will cost at least £1500 before accommodation and food is factored in.

And a crucial aspect of the World Cup will be tickets to the games. FIFA insist tickets will start at just 30 US dollars in 'Category 4' areas, but also add that dynamic pricing will be implemented which will increase prices depending on demand.

For City's three group games, prices released today show fans will have to cough up hundreds for each clash, rising to potentially thousands in the knockout stages.

The opening fixture at the Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia will cost either $111 (£88) for upper tier tickets or $156 (£124) for lower tier tickets, with Wydad thought to be bringing a large following to the States. There are only lower and upper tier prices available for supporters.

In Atlanta at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the upper tier prices are lower at $86 (£68) but lower tier tickets are costlier at $211 (£168). And the final game at the Camping World Stadium, Orlando, will set fans back $100 (£80) for upper tier and $234 (£186) for lower tier.

That prices the group stage at £236 ($297) for three upper tier tickets and up to £478 ($601) for lower tier tickets.

And according to figures released by Bayern Munich this week, knockout tickets will cost even more, albeit with a different path in the last-16 and quarter-finals before the tournament moves to New Jersey at the last four stage.

For the final in New Jersey, for example, upper tier tickets are priced at a huge $892 (£712), with lower tier tickets priced at a staggering $2230 (£1781).

A semi-final will cost between $526-995 (£420-794), with quarter-finals priced at $279-497 (£222-397). A last-16 clash is set at a more 'reasonable' $79-214 (£63-170).

So when those prices are added up, upper tier prices for the four possible knockout clashes would amount to £1418 ($1776), with lower tier tickets costing a total £3144 ($3936).

That amounts to a potential total run to the final of £1654 ($2070) for cheaper seats and £3622 ($4534). City are yet to put their designated tickets on sale for fans who have registered through the club's membership programmes and the prices above are those available through general sale, set by FIFA.

If City fans were to look at resale websites, they could already be looking at up to $4000 for the opening fixture in Philadelphia with second-hand tickets starting at $70, while tickets for the second game are going for as much as $614, and the Juventus clash for $1650 in the highest resale options.

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