As Lionel Messi’s first World Cup match in D-FW draws ever closer, ticket prices on the secondary market for Monday’s Argentina-Austria game have gone from extremely high to a different stratosphere altogether.

The game at Dallas Stadium already was a circle-your-calendar, must-see affair. But anticipation is now at a peak after the global superstar scored three goals in Tuesday’s victory over Algeria. 

Fans fortunate enough to watch Argentina’s match Monday know they have a chance to witness history: One Messi goal will make him the all-time leader in goals scored in men’s World Cup history.

Fans who won the FIFA ticketing lottery months ago had the opportunity to purchase World Cup tickets primarily in one of three price categories. Ticket buyers still didn’t know exactly what section they’d be sitting in, but FIFA provided a rough idea based on color-coded seating maps — and the prices were fixed.

With Monday’s Argentina-Austria match at Dallas Stadium, those who want to make last-minute ticket purchases on the secondary market will encounter a different market. According to third-party ticketing platform StubHub, it now costs more than $2,000 for a seat in the last rows of the upper deck of Dallas Stadium.

Want a close seat? Expect to pay much, much more.

That’s because Dallas is welcoming an Argentine one-man supernova, who will be performing twice on the biggest global stage. Argentina also plays next Saturday in Arlington against Jordan. 

Four years removed from lifting the World Cup trophy for Argentina in Qatar, Messi still possesses an unmistakable aura. This is like watching Michael Jordan — 1998 Jordan with the Bulls — an icon who still levitates above mere mortals.

“Players who change the trajectory of a league or a sport come once in a lifetime,” Camilo Durana, chief business officer at Major League Soccer, told The Dallas Morning News. “Guys like Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky — Lionel Messi is one of them.”

Noelle LeVeaux, the chief marketing officer for the North Texas Organizing Committee, said in April to expect upward of 80,000 people to travel from Argentina to D-FW for his matches.

For Major League Soccer teams, there has been a solution to satisfy the virtually insatiable appetite to see Messi: Play games in bigger stadiums.

So far this MLS season, three matches featuring Messi and his Inter Miami team have surpassed 72,000 fans, each ranking among the top 10 largest crowds in league history. Five clubs have set new single-match attendance records in 2026, all of which have included Messi and Inter Miami.

A Colorado Rapids’ attendance record of 75,673 filled Empower Field at Mile High in Denver in April. A crowd of 75,673 filled the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in February, a LAFC home attendance record. And 72,026 filled Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium in March. 

And now fans will pack Dallas Stadium to see him — a coveted ticket if there ever was one.