Fans attempting to access Khalifa International Stadium in Doha for this afternoon’s World Cup match between England and Iran were left waiting outside for hours, after the FIFA Ticketing app crashed.
There were reports of thousands of fans queueing for printed tickets in a ‘resolution queue’ after the mobile app suffered issues.
Supporters had said that tickets had disappeared from their mobile app, with users that had logged out in the last 24 hours unable to log back in.
The FIFA World Cup in Qatar kicked off yesterday (Sunday) with a match between the hosts and Ecuador. The tournament will run until December 18.
— FIFA Media (@fifamedia) November 21, 2022
A statement from FIFA read: “Some spectators are currently experiencing an issue with accessing their tickets via the FIFA Ticketing app. FIFA is working on solving the issue. In the meantime, fans who are not able to access their mobile tickets should check the email accounts they used to register with the Ticketing app for further instructions.
“In case fans cannot access their email accounts, the stadium’s Ticket Resolution Point will be able to support. We thank fans for their understanding as we work to fix the issue as soon as possible.”
The issue resulted in hundreds of fans missing the start of the match.
One fan responded to FIFA’s statement to say that they were still unable to access the app at around 2:30pm GMT and were due to go to the Wales game this evening, which is set to kick off at 7pm GMT (10pm local time). The user also added that they had to sit on a step to watch England vs Iran, as fans were hurried through one gate.
England went on to win the match 6-2.