By Andrew Warshaw
April 16- Whatever problems organisers might be encountering getting Brazil ready for the World Cup ticket sales continue to soar.
Within the first four hours of the opening of the final sales phase, 126,837 tickets of the 199 519 available for 54 of the 64 matches were snapped up– 80,496 from Brazilians nationals (63.4 percent) and 46,341 from outside the host nation.
The United States may be perceived to have more interest in American football, baseball and basketball but thousands of their fans are heading for the World Cup, second only in number to Brazilian supporters in the latest tranche of requests.
The top 10 nationalities, by tickets successfully allocated, were as follows: Brazil, USA, Colombia, Argentina, Germany, Mexico, France, England, Chile and Australia. Tickets are still available on a first-come, first-served basis.
FIFA says its ticketing pick-up centres in the 12 host cities will open on Friday, save for Brasilia and Porto Alegre, where they will only be available from next month. From June 1, through to the final on July 13, FIFA said tickets can also be purchased over the counter at designated FIFA Venue Ticketing Centres in the host cities.
The ten matches sold out prior to the final sales phase were the July 13 final, the June 12 opener between Brazil and Croatia, Mexico v Cameroon, England v Italy, Argentina v Bosnia, Brazil v Mexico, reigning champions Spain v Chile, Cameroon v Brazil, Croatia v Mexico and Australia v Spain.
“With less than two months to go, this is the last chance for fans to secure their tickets for football’s flagship event,” Thierry Weil, FIFA Marketing Director in charge of ticketing, said just ahead of the latest sales phase.