A total of 2.45 million tickets have been sold for this year’s World Cup in Qatar after over half a million were snapped up in the latest sales period, world football governing body FIFA announced on Thursday.
FIFA said that 520,532 were sold in the first-come, first-served phase between July 5 and August 16, with Qatar, the United States, England, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, France, Argentina, Brazil and Germany the leading countries of residence for those purchasing match tickets.
FIFA stated that the most popular games for ticket sales include Brazil’s group-phase encounters against Cameroon and Serbia, Portugal’s meeting with Uruguay, Costa Rica’s clash with Germany, and Australia against Denmark.
“Fans living in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, England, Argentina, Brazil, Wales and Australia led the way and the digital queues by securing the biggest number of tickets,” FIFA said.
The cheapest tickets for fans from outside Qatar are priced at 250 riyals ($69). Fans need a confirmed ticket purchase to book places to stay in Qatar through an official tournament website.
FIFA previously said it got 3 million ticket re-quests for the World Cup final on Dec 18 — Qatar’s national day — at the new 80,000-seat Lusail Sta-dium.—AFP
