The sale of tickets for next year’s event in South Africa continue to impress FIFA, with close to 300 000 applications received in a week.
The World Cup (Goal.com)
The latest batch, which excludes the two semi-finals and the final, is on sale until November and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
More than 112,600 of the requests so far came from South Africa, world football's governing body said. Applications can be made either through a South African bank or on FIFA’s website.
The demand is matching the popularity of the first phase of ticket sales between February 20 and March 31, which attracted more than 1.8 million ticket requests. Nearly 556,000 tickets for that phase were distributed by a random computerised draw last month, 44% of them to South Africans.
FIFA also said on Wednesday that 351,121 tickets for the Confederations Cup have been sold, with just over a month to go until the tournament kicks off in South Africa. A total of 640 000 are available for the event.
FIFA recently changed its sales methods for the Confederations Cup in a bid to stimulate advance sales in South Africa. Footballing officials said fans there were more used to buying tickets on match day.
