The second phase of ticket sales for next year’s World Cup sold out just seven hours after being made available on FIFA’s website on a first-come, first-served basis.
About 62 % went to Brazilians and 38 % to the international market. The top buyers after Brazil were the USA, Australia, England and Argentina.
Fifa put almost 230,000 tickets on sale and said the “level of interest was impressive,” greater than in the first sales window when almost 890,000 were allocated through a random selection draw.
More than 6.2 million tickets have been requested altogether for the first World Cup in Brazil since 1950, nearly double the amount available.
Tickets for the most biggest games were not on sale in the second phase, including the June 12 opener in Sao Paulo the July 13 final as well as the two semifinals and all of Brazil’s group-stage matches.
A third and final instalment will be made available following the World Cup draw on December 6 which determines where and when the 32 teams will play. FIFA said about eight percent of remaining tickets will at that point be available exclusively to supporters of the respective teams.