The demand for tickets for World Cup games in Brazil is greater than it has ever been in the tournament’s history, FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, said.
FIFA has sold more than a World Cup-record 2.5 million tickets for this year’s tournament, with the latest sales period to close on April 1.
Entering the week, tickets remained for just seven games: Greece-Ivory Coast and Uruguay-Costa Rica in Fortaleza; Nigeria-Bosnia Herzegovina and Russia-South Korea in Cuiabá; South Korea-Algeria in Porto Alegre; Honduras-Switzerland in Manaus; and Bosnia Herzegovina-Iran in Salvador.
The World Cup, which runs from June 12 to July 13, will have 64 games. The majority of games sold out during the latest selling period, when tickets were sold first-come, first-serve on FIFA’s website. Fans previously had to fill out online requests, and only those selected in a lottery could buy tickets.
Tickets sales have been very swift during the last period. More than two-thirds of games were sold out in less than three hours, while games featuring Brazil sold out in an hour along with round-of-16 matches and quarterfinals.
FIFA said about 295,000 tickets had been sold during the current selling period entering the week.
Tickets were not available during the latest selling period for the World Cup opener between Brazil and Croatia at Itaquerão Stadium in São Paulo on June 12, the semifinals in São Paulo and Belo Horizonte or the championship game on July 13 at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
FIFA said it expects about 3.3 million tickets to be sold for the World Cup.