Some 1.2 million tickets have been sold for the 2022 Qatar World Cup later this year, according to organisers.
The most recent ticket sales phase, which consisted of a random selection draw and closed at the end of April, saw 23.5 million ticket requests from across the globe.
Most of the interest came from fans in Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Mexico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the US.
Hassan Al Thawadi, secretary general of Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, told the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha: “I think about 1.2 million tickets have already been purchased. So people are actually buying and people are excited to come.”
FIFA president Gianni Infantino also told the Forum that there were five million requests for tickets to the final.
The final will be held at the 80,000-capacity Lusail Stadium on December 18 later this year.
Officials said that around 40 million requests were made for tickets across the two phases of online sales. Two million tickets will be sold in total and one million tickets will be reserved for the world football governing body and sponsors.
Payments were due earlier this month for those that were successful with their ticket applications.
Qatar has also said that only ticket-holders will be allowed to visit Qatar during the FIFA World Cup this year, to avoid security and accommodation provision challenges.
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