FIFA sells 2.45 million tickets for Qatar World Cup

Global football governing body FIFA on Thursday, August 18 said that it has sold 4.5 million tickets for the World Cup, which will be held in Qatar, adding that close to 500,000 tickets are left 3 months ahead of the quadrennial showpiece football tournament.

FIFA said more than half a million of them were sold in the last sale period -- July 5 to16. The governing body also added that Brazil's games against Serbia and Cameroon were among the most in-demand matches in the group stages of the World Cup.

The top 10 places ranked by ticket sales to their residents include Qatar and neighboring countries Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The United States, England, Mexico, France, Argentina, Brazil, and Germany are also on the list released by



FIFA.

The launch date for the next sales phase will be announced in late September, the governing body said. Over-the-counter sales will also start in Doha after the launch of the last-minute sales phase. Notably, this is the first time the World Cup will be held in the Middle East.

A total of around 3 million tickets will be available for the 64-match World Cup, which will be held across 8 venues. FIFA previously said it got 3 million ticket requests for the World Cup final on December 18 — Qatar’s national day — at the new 80,000-seat Lusail Stadium, according to the AP news agency.

The World Cup begins a day earlier than originally scheduled with the opening ceremony taking place before the host nation kick off the tournament on Sunday, November 20 against Ecuador.