Sao Paolo: FIFA says it has received applications for more than 4.5 million tickets for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, an “impressive total” a week before the first phase of sales ends.
FIFA Marketing Director Thierry Weil says the demand for tickets “underlines the extraordinary level of interest” in next year's tournament.
Brazilians made 77 percent of the requests, for about 3.4 million tickets. Argentines applied for 223,686 tickets and Americans for 175,122. FIFA says people from more than 200 countries have sought tickets.
Organizers expect a total of nearly 3.3 million tickets to be available for the tournament in Brazil, but only about 1 million are offered in the first stage of sales.
Fans have until next Thursday to apply. A random draw will be held for matches where the number of requests exceeds the available tickets.
