Some 17 million tickets have been requested in the first application window for this year’s FIFA Men’s World Cup in Qatar.
The first sales period for the tournament lasted just under three weeks and finished yesterday (Tuesday) with the largest number of applicants coming from the host nation.
FIFA also saw applications from footballing fanatics in key markets such as Argentina, Brazil, England, France, India, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the US.
Around 1.8 million requests were made for tickets to the World Cup final on December 18, making it the most popular match.
FIFA Ticketing will now verify that ticket requests meet the sales and household restrictions before allocating tickets. Successful, partially successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified on March 8.
Roughly 1.2 million tickets were initially requested for the men’s World Cup in the first 24 hours of applications being made available. The final at Lusail Stadium was also the most popular match at this point, while more than 80,000 requests were made for tickets to the opening match on November 21.
Qatari fans were able to apply for tickets for as little as QAR40 (£8/$11/€10) and the close proximity of venues presents fans with the opportunity to watch multiple games on subsequent days.
It is thought that the starting price of QAR40 for local fans is the cheapest price for a World Cup ticket since 1986, when the event was held in Mexico.
Image: Qatar 2022